


The Enemy Within

by whitehandweasel



Category: Five Nights at Freddy's
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-04
Updated: 2020-08-01
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:20:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 26,108
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25063018
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whitehandweasel/pseuds/whitehandweasel
Summary: Two months after the events of The Fourth Closet, Charlie mysteriously wakes up from death, but something has changed about her and she is not herself anymore. A malevolent being is hiding within her, and if she is not careful, her entire world will come crashing down on her, and all the people she knows and loves will die.This story is an AU. That means that events may not line up with what is considered canonical to the story, just for the sake of enhancing the story.
Comments: 9
Kudos: 25





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The epilogue involving John and Charlie did not happen in relation with this story.

Charlie slowly opened her eyes, attempting to adjust to the light. When she was finally able to see, her heart froze. She was staring at her own corpse. She was staring at Charlie. There was dried blood bleeding from the corpse's mouth. Everything about it was what Charlie looked like, her expression, her face, her clothing. The corpse was hugging Charlie. She shivered and tried to look around, but it proved difficult to turn her head. Nonetheless, she managed to do it. She was in a dark closet, illuminated by the sun's faint rays piercing through the closet doors. Charlie realized this was where she was when she "died".

Charlie looked at her arms and legs, which seemed to be made of metal and were painted white. Her palms were round, and painted red. A chill traveled down her spine as she realized what was going on, and why she was alive. She was in Elizabeth's body.

Charlie realized that Elizabeth was the fourth version of herself. That must explain why Charlie is in Elizabeth's body, her consciousness was transferred from body to body after each death. She looked back at her corpse with a guilty expression. Charlie realized that she couldn't go back to her friends, not with this appearance. Her friends would hate her. They would see her as Elizabeth—a murderer. She wouldn't be able to convince her friends that she is herself, and she couldn't just "pretend" to be Charlie either, because those illusion discs may not work too well on her friends. She knew how the discs made John nauseous when one of those twisted animatronics were close to him. Charlie sighed, sitting down on the floor and burying her face in her hands. It seemed that all hope was lost, yet she also knew in the back of her mind that if she lived in hopelessness all her life, she would get nowhere.

Charlie's trance would be interrupted by the sound of a landline phone ringing. Charlie bolted up, and slowly walked out the closet, her heart beating rapidly. She was filled with fear. She looked just like Elizabeth. If any of her friends were nearby, she would be in trouble. She walked into Aunt Jen's office, looking for the phone. When it finally rang again, she walked over to it, picking it up and putting it to her ear.

But there was nothing on the other end of the line. Charlie sighed, placing the phone back on the hook, and sitting down down in the office chair. She closed her eyes for a brief moment, trying to come up with a plan. For the first time in months, she spoke. "I don't know what to do."

She was surprised that she was able to speak, and even more surprised that it was similar to her own voice, though there were some clear differences. If she was to ever be able to be with her friends again, Charlie needed to figure out how to "pretend." There was some trouble with that though, because she didn't exactly know how. In the meantime, she decided to at least try to look the part.

Charlie got up from the chair and entered the closet, which was still slightly illuminated by the sunlight. She walked up to her old body, which was covered in dried blood. Lifting the corpse onto her shoulder—and finding the weight not too much to handle—she carried it into the office, depositing it onto floor. Bending down and sighing, she thought of how strange it was to be right next to her own dead body.

She tore off her red skirt so that she could put on better clothes. Charlie removed the corpse's jeans, and put them on herself. They didn't quite fit her, but it was only temporary. She put her shirt on, and it didn't seem too bad at first glance. She stood up and looked at the window to see her reflection, and it was worse than she imagined. There were blood stains on her shirt, and the shirt didn't even fit. Charlie's chest plates also created noticeable bulges in her shirt. She sighed as she put on her olive green jacket, which had blood stains on it as well. The jacket helped mask her chest plates, but not by much.

Charlie tore off her plastic pigtails and extended her hoodie over her head in an attempt to make her seem less like Elizabeth. She looked back at her reflection in the window, but there was still one problem—her green glowing eyes. She couldn't just remove her eyes, because then she wouldn't be able to see. She sighed and looked around the office for anything that could help filter out her green eyes. Eventually she stumbled upon a pair of tinted sunglasses. She picked up the pair of sunglasses and tried to put them on, but they would fall off due to her lack of ears. Charlie, angered, slammed her fist into the desk and screamed. Her fist crashed through the desk, making a giant hole. She looked down at the broken desk, her eyes wide and her mouth open. Shivering, she sat back down, both lonely and afraid. Charlie reached into her jacket pocket and obtained a note containing various phone numbers. She looked through the numbers. Clay, Carlton, Jessica, but the last one stuck out the most. John. A chill traveled down her spine. Charlie knew she couldn't risk herself calling someone in the shape she was in right now, but she also couldn't bear being alone, under all the stress she was under. She read John's number, and gave it a call using the house phone.

She put the phone against her ear, waiting to hear a voice. After six long seconds, an answer came.

"Hello?" John asked on the other side. There was a long pause. Charlie was nervous talking to a close friend in the condition she was in. After nearly ten seconds, John spoke again. "Hello…? Look, if you don't want to talk, I'll hang up."

Charlie took a deep breath. "I'm sorry," she says in a quiet and shallow voice, "but what's your name?"

After a brief pause, John answered in an angry tone. "I'm John. Why are you calling me?"

Charlie sighed, realizing that she would rather talk to John in person than on the phone. "I have the wrong number. I'm truly sorry for bothering you.

Before she could hang up, John interrupted her. "Wait! Don't hang up!" he shouted.

Charlie jumped a bit, startled. After a brief pause, she asked, "Why not?"

"It's just—you sounded like a friend I lost a while ago."

Charlie looked down, beginning to tear up. She knew just by listening to his voice that he missed her a lot.

"I should probably just accept that she's gone," John said, sniffling.

Charlie took a deep breath. "If you're tired, don't quit. Learn to rest. And don't give up. Look, I don't know you or anything, but you shouldn't give up on your friend—you might find her."

Charlie hung up the phone and buried her face into her elbow, tearing up even more. This was all too stressful for her—too much to be able to handle. Being dead for two months, and then suddenly being alive, was stressful enough.

After a few minutes, Charlie wiped away her tears and got up, ready to try and pretend to be her former self.

Charlie turned around and looked at the corpse below her. She studied every single aspect of the corpse, and closed her eyes, imagining herself looking just like her. A few seconds later, a wave of dizziness hit Charlie. She opened her eyes and looked at her reflection. A big smile formed on Charlie's face.

"I look like myself!" Charlie said to herself in pure excitement. Her excitement died down however, as she looked blankly at the corpse that looks just like her. "This is going to be a problem", she said to herself with pure dread. She picked up the body, having a sudden feeling that it wasn't a corpse at all. She carried it to the bathroom, and shoved it into the closet. She closed the closet door, thinking it would be safe in there, and walked away, closing the bathroom door and walking into the living room. She took a moment to admire the living room, since this was probably going to be the last time she will be here.

Charlie walked out the living room, and into the kitchen. She walked over to the fridge and opened it. Inside was a red apple, and she decided to see if she could actually eat like she was able to before. She grabbed the apple and took a bite from it, but she didn't taste anything. She threw away the apple and closed the fridge, understandably annoyed. Charlie sighed. She walked out of the kitchen and toward the door, but before she opened it, she turned around to look at the house. It was a pretty house, and it was a shame it belonged to nobody anymore.

Charlie turned to face the door and turned the knob, opening it. She looked out with fear and anxiety. There was the sound of a police siren a good mile away. In an abandoned town? That can't be right. She slammed the door shut and slid down the hill as the sirens got closer and closer. She reached the base of the hill, curling up in a ball for a moment. The pitch black of night seemed to worsen her mood. Noticing the sirens are quite far away, she got up, walking toward the streets.

She passed by several buildings which were broken down and rotten by storms, and just general neglect after being abandoned for so long. She quietly remarked to herself on how this town had such wasted potential. Now, the only reason people come here is to collect wood from broken houses.

Charlie sat down on a nearby bench. The sound of thunder striking echoed through the sky. Charlie didn't want to be in the rain, even though her past self was fine in water. She didn't feel okay, and she didn't trust her illusion disc to work properly when wet. She looked ahead of her, noticing small water droplets hit the ground. She looked around herself. Nearly all the houses were old and rotten, unable to withstand heavy rain or weather. She closed her eyes, attempting to put together a plan.

It was now raining over Charlie. Opening her eyes and noticing a telephone booth a few hundred feet away, Charlie got up and began walking towards it. Reaching the phone booth, she opened the door and stepped inside. She appreciated the dryness of the booth, it made her more comfortable. She sat down on the floor, crossing her legs and looking out the glass window. Large rain droplets splattered against the glass from the outside, making sounds that were quite relaxing to Charlie. She rested her head against the glass window, reflecting on the past events that have happened to her.

Charlie shifted her attention to the telephone attached to a metal wall. She began wondering who she could call. She didn't want to call John, since she just talked to him, going under the assumption that she isn't Charlie. She thought that calling him again would raise suspicion from him. She reached into her pocket, pulling out the note she used earlier to call John. She now felt guilty for not knowing John's number, but she never really talked to him over the phone that much anyway. She really didn't talk to her friends much over the phone, she was more of a person that liked to talk to people in person, but there were times that long distance calls were needed.

Charlie still pondered who to call. She didn't want to call the police, since her situation isn't exactly an emergency. She didn't want to talk to Clay or Carlton because she knew they would tell the others, Charlie wasn't exactly in the mood for that. She browsed through the names and numbers some more, stopping at Jessica's number. _'That's it,'_ she thought. She knew that Jessica was a very outgoing person, and a close friend of hers. Jessica was also a keen strategist, and if anyone could help her, it would be her. She looked back at Jessica's number, and she dialed it in, inserting a quarter into the slot. She put the phone against her ear, and waited.

After ten long seconds, an answer came, in a cheerful voice. "Hello?"

Charlie hesitated answering at first, but then realized that she was doing the same thing she did back in Aunt Jen's house. And so, Charlie answered. "Jessica... this is you right?"

"Yeah, I'm Jessica," The girl asked, still in her usual cheerful voice. "Charlie?," Jessica asked. It sounded like she recognized Charlie's voice right away, which made Charlie smile and tear up slightly.

"Yeah I'm Charlie. Wow, you recognized my voice _that quick_? I should give you more credit," Charlie said, smiling proudly.

"Sure thing. We've been looking everywhere for you, where have you been? Are you okay?," Jessica asked, her cheerfulness beginning to fade away.

"I'm not doing okay Jessica. I'm lost in an abandoned town and I'm not sure what to do." This whole situation really did bend her the wrong way. She appreciated that she was still cared about by her friends, and all she wanted right now was to be with one of them.

"I'm really sorry about you, seriously we all are. Where are you?"

"I'm in a town called Silver Reef. There's a house atop a hill with a shining star nearby. A good hundred feet away from that hill, you'll see a phone booth. That's where I am," Charlie answered.

"I'm coming to pick you up now, sound good?"

"Yeah, it sounds good," Charlie answered. "I don't want you to hang up yet, I want to talk for a little while."

"Well I can do that," Jessica said. Charlie imagined Jessica smiling on the other side of the phone. Jessica continued. "What would you like to talk about?"

"Well how have you been the last couple of months?," Charlie asked. She looked out the window, seeing the heavy rain droplets splash against the glass walls of the phone booth.

"I've not had the best of days. We all missed you, Carlton got sick for a month, and John... well he seemed upset, but he refused to talk about it. It was like he was sure you were dead, he told us that we wouldn't find you."

Charlie shivered a little. John witnessed her death. She immediately realized her mistake calling John, and since he knows she is dead, he would probably think the person calling her was Elizabeth. "I feel like I really messed up."

"What do you mean you messed up?," Jessica asked, worriedly.

Charlie sighed, knowing she can't talk about her death, or about her being in Elizabeth's body. "Nevermind." Charlie didn't know what to say anymore.

"Come on Charlie, talk to me. What's going on?"

"Look, I really just don't want to talk about this, at least not now. This past day has been really stressful for me, and I just want to rest and be with a friend like you," Charlie said, looking down at the dirty floor. Charlie instinctively bolted up, banging her head against the telephone box. "Ow!," she shrieked out in pain.

"Charlie? Are you alright there? What happened?"

"Ow.. I hit my head on the telephone box," Charlie explained, her eyes squeezed shut as she grasped the back of her head. Charlie was surprised that she was able to feel pain since she was in Elizabeth's body, but she did recall Elizabeth screaming when getting stabbed. "I'm okay now, don't worry... can you pick me up now?," Charlie asked.

"Of course," Jessica said in a once–again cheerful tone. "I'm going to get in my car, I'll see you soon."

"Wait!," Charlie interrupted. "Don't hang up yet."

"Hm?," Jessica confusedly asked.

"Look, please don't tell John or anyone else that I called you. I'm just not ready to talk to anyone else." Charlie looked down, not fully trusting her, but knowing it is her best shot.

"I won't Charlie. I promise."

Charlie smiled. "Thanks. I'll see you," Charlie finished, hanging up the phone. She finally felt she was getting somewhere. She gazed out the window, watching as the thunderstorm reached Aunt Jen's house. _'I really miss her,'_ Charlie thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, I guess? I probably shouldn't say that, but anyway, if you liked this chapter or story so far, please leave a review or comment about your thoughts, it would be appreciated!


	2. Chapter Two

A police car zoomed through the streets of Hurricane, sirens blaring. Inside, John, Clay, and Carlton were present.

"John, are you sure that was Charlie?" Clay asked John from the driver seat of the car. He was focused on the road and the GPS.

John closed his eyes for a moment, trying to remember the words the woman on the phone spoke—only a vague reminiscence surfacing. Still, his doubts about her being Charlie were clear in his mind. "She isn't Charlie."

"It came from Silver Reef—maybe she is Charlie," Clay answered, then yawning. It was late at night when John called Clay, but since it had something to do with Charlie, Clay felt obligated to go. "Silver Reef was where Charlie was last time, after all."

John looked away, not wanting to reveal that Charlie died months ago. Carlton was sitting in the back seat of the car. He gazed out the window, watching as trees and broken houses whizzed by. He turned his attention to John. "So what did she say?"

"Well, she asked for my name. After I told her my name, she said she had the wrong number—it was there that she really did sound like Charlie," John explained. "Before she hung up, I told the girl on the phone that she sounded just like her. I told her that she has been missing for a while—that we were all looking for her. She told me to not give up looking. She told me to learn not to give up, but to rest." John rested his head against the window, closing his eyes for a moment. He knew the girl on the phone wasn't Charlie. He witnessed Charlie's death personally, as well as Elizabeth's. There was no way in hell that Charlie could have survived.

Clay looked up at the GPS—pushing on the gas harder. The car sped up, passing an old and rotten 'WELCOME TO SILVER REEF!' sign. "If any of you get sick, tell me and I'll slow down." Following a few long minutes of silence, Carlton rolled down his window and popped his head outside, seeing trees and houses fly by at fast speeds. Carlton quickly pulled himself back inside, rolling the window back up. He didn't want to get hit in the head by anything.

John was sitting down in the passenger seat, reflecting about the past—and about how horrific the past three years was for him and his friends. It was truly a terror, and while he very much hoped this nightmare was over. He truly felt responsible for what happened to Charlie that fateful night, and nobody could change that.

John shifted his attention towards Carlton. "So, the fake Charlie was hitting on you for quite a while, hasn't she?," he asked, a smirk forming on his face.

"Hey!," Carlton said, reaching past the console and slapping John across the neck. John flinched as Clay rolled his eyes, shifting his attention towards the road.

"Sorry, sorry... but did she?," John stared at Carlton, not blinking once. It seemed like he didn't want to blink.

Carlton—embarrassed, sighed deeply. "Yeah, she did. I actually kinda liked her, it's a shame she's a killer robot."

"A killer robot? Is that what you call her? She _killed Charlie's aunt!,_ " John furiously said. Carlton sighed, rolling his eyes. Silence once again filled the car.

"Why do you keep telling us we won't find Charlie?," Carlton asked, taking a deep breath. He had been waiting a long time to ask this question. "Don't you at least hope we'll find her?"

"We won't though. The person I talked to on the phone wasn't Charlie. Charlie's gone."

"Why do you think Charlie is gone though?," Carlton asked.

"It's not that I think she's gone. I know she's gone, I saw it myself," John admitted, refusing to say anything else. He turned to the window, hearing the sounds of rain and thunder nearby.

The car began to slow down as a house atop a hill with a star on it became visible. Carlton and John both turned to face the road. John's eyes were locked to the house, remembering the events that took place months ago. "This is it, this was where it all happened," John said, clearly referring to Carlton. The car eventually stopped, rain pouring heavily over the car.

"Alright, let's go over what is going to happen here," Clay said, taking an authoritative role. "Every inch of that house is going to be searched. Before we do that, we're going to search the area around the house." John and Carlton nodded in agreement.

Clay opened the glove compartment and produced two flashlights, handing them to Carlton and John. "You're going to keep these on you." The two others nodded, and Clay opened the door. "Alright let's go." The two others stepped out of the car, and Clay locked the car. Clay pulled his jacket away from his belt, removing a revolver from his holster. Clay opened the drum of the revolver and checked how many bullets were inside it.

John turned his flashlight on. It was fairly bright, and so he pointed it down. He looked at Carlton, who was looking around the hill impatiently. John then looked at Clay. Clay closed the drum for his revolver—putting it back inside his holster. He makes a head gesture as if to say "Come on". Carlton and John follow.

The group reaches the base of the hill. John turned to face the other two. "I think we should go around the hill before we go up." Carlton nodded, though still in slight confusion. "I think that's a good idea," Clay said in approval. And so, the two began walking the perimeter of the hill. They both agreed that they shouldn't split up—they have watched too many horror movies to know where that would go.

The group began their trek around the hill. They were all understandably stressed out, as it being night would mean there could be anyone—or anything, following them. John began contemplating whether or not it was really Charlie making the call. Upon encircling the hill nearly half way, John stopped and turned to face the rest of the group.

"I think we won't find anything else," John stated, turning to the hill. "Let's get on the top of that." John walked towards the hill and began scaling it. The others soon followed.

Clay was the first to reach the top. He stood up and turned around, waiting for the others to come. John would come up first. Carlton would be the last to reach the top. Clay pointed his bright flashlight at the house. "Alright, let's try the door." Clay walked right up to the front door, and he attempted to turn the knob. The knob wouldn't budge. "John, Carlton. Look behind me and make sure nothing is nearby. I'm going to pick this."

The others turned around, covering him. Clay opened his bag and produced a small case—containing several lockpicking tools. Clay then looked at the door lock to see what tool would work best. The lock seemed to be a dimple lock, and so he went into the case—obtaining three dimple rakes. Clay turned his attention to the Carlton and John. "If you want to save time picking a lock, always try using a rake. You'll never know how bad some locks are," he said. Looking back at the lock, he inserted a rake inside. He went back and forth several times using the three rakes. Eventually the knob gave up, and Clay turned the knob. He cautiously opened the door. "It's open."

The two turned to face the house, and they began walking inside single file. "Try to find a lightswitch," Clay spoke out. Carlton shone his flashlight to a nearby wall, in which a panel of light switches were visible. Carlton walked over to the wall and flipped one of the switches, and the room lit up. The others did not have a reaction. Carlton rejoined the others.

They were in what looked like a dining room, and there was a small kitchen on the other side of the room. Clay walked over to the kitchen, while Carlton and John walked into an office room that is next to the dining room. Carlton turned on the office lights. John approached Carlton, frowning. "Look, I'm really sorry about Charlie. I feel like I'm responsible for her disappearing." John was scared and nervous—mainly because his friends will most likely find Charlie's body, but at the same time he wanted to get this thing over with.

Carlton put his hand over John's shoulder. "You shouldn't worry about that right now. We need worry about finding Charlie." Carlton replied in a surprisingly calm voice. John looked up at Carlton. "Charlie's gone." John then looked at the office desk, which had a hole in it. It seemed as if someone punched a hole right through it.

After studying the hole, John looked at the contents of the desk. There were papers and notes scattered around, a loose watch, and a phone. John then moved on to the floor—noticing a pair of broken sunglasses. John bent down to study it further. "Looks like someone dropped these," John said. Carlton bent over to look at the broken sunglasses too. Before the two could study the glasses any further, there was an interruption.

"JOHN! CARLTON!"

A loud voice boomed from another room of the house, unmistakably Clay's. The two got up from the ground, sprinting out towards the living room, where the voice seemed to come from. "Dad?", Carlton asked. Clay was nowhere to be seen. "Over here!," Clay shouted from a small room branching from the living room. The two slowly walked inside the room, and as Clay drew out his revolver, their anxiety turned into fear and terror as they gazed upon the corpse of their old friend.

The body lay on the floor—having a close resemblance to Charlie. Neither of them said a word. Clay looked at the two others with a guilty expression. The body had a deep stab wound in the stomach.

"I'm truly sorry. I'm going to get an autopsy done later to figure out exactly what happened," Clay said, sighing. Carlton nodded, and looked back at the corpse. There was no clothing on her, and there was a stab wound that went straight through her stomach.

"That must've been painful," Carlton said. He closed his eyes shut and turned away from everyone. John stood there, seemingly in a deep trance. He seemed to have a blank expression. Carlton looked at Clay. "How long has she been dead?"

"Judging from how much the blood aged, I'd say a month or two."

"So who could have called me if she has been dead all this time? Nobody else lives in this town, judging by the abundance of vacant and destroyed homes," Carlton said.

John stood up, wiping his tears away. He looked at Clay and Carlton "Elizabeth is the only one who would have the guts to kill Charlie." John sighed, refusing to believe anyone else could be behind this.

Clay and Carlton nodded. Clay reached into his holster and produced a revolver. Cocking it, he held the revolver firmly in his hand. "If any of you get dizzy near someone, call me," Clay said as he walked out.

John sat back down, looking at the corpse. He put his hand over it, feeling for any signs of life, but nothing came. Carlton walked over to him. "John, look... I know you feel sorry for this—"

"How do you think I feel?!," John interrupted. Carlton backed away, startled. "How do you think I feel about my best friend being dead in front of my eyes, without even having the chance to say goodbye?"

Carlton sighed. He felt like he was only worsening John's condition. John left the room to be with Clay. Now, Carlton was alone. Carlton looked back at the corpse, sniffling and tearing up. He fell down to his knees, burying his head into his arms—crying over Charlie's body. He never even got the chance to see her or say goodbye. Carlton sniffled again, realizing the corpse had no awful odor that most corpses had. Carlton bent over the body—looking at the stab wound inside it's stomach. To Carlton, it didn't seem real, yet it looked like the same exact Charlie he knew all these months ago. No signs of decay or rot, as if the body was was a fake. Carlton got up and walked outside.

"Something's wrong with the body," Carlton stated. "There's no signs of decay, there isn't any odor that most corpses have." Clay looked at Carlton with keen eyes, but John looked away.

Clay sighed. "Look, an autopsy will happen in two days, so please just be calm. I'll try to get things sorted out." John glanced at the two, and then walked away. "I'll be in the office if you need me."

John entered the office, sitting down in the chair. He was angered—and rightfully upset. He wished this entire thing was just a nightmare. He hoped that he could just wake up from all this, and be with Charlie again. But this wasn't a nightmare, this was very real. John stretched his arms and legs out, looking around the room. There were tons of papers scattered around the desk, there was a loose phone set laying on the desk too. Of course, the pair of broken sunglasses were still on the ground, undisturbed. John shifted his attention back to the phone set, and decided to pick up the phone. He decided to check the most recent calls made. His eyes widened when he checked the most recent call.

It was his own number. A chill went down his spine as he reread the number several times—blinking and hitting the side of his head, trying to tell himself that the number on the phone wasn't his own—but it was real. Taking a deep breath, John got up from the office chair, walking out.

In the living room, Clay was talking to Carlton about the call. John's entrance created some silence. "So I checked the recent calls for the phone here, and..." John cleared his throat, closing his eyes for a moment to compose himself. "My number was on there, the call was made... today."

Carlton and Clay both stared at John, eyes wide. "But Charlie has been dead for months, and if this is the last place Charlie _and_ Elizabeth were, then that could only mean one thing..."

Clay sighed. "Look, if you want to stay, stay. I need to go home though. I'm gonna tell the police department that Charlie died in the morning." Carlton and John both nodded. Clay walked into the bathroom to retrieve Charlie's corpse.

"John... Charlie wasn't the best at everything, but she saved a lot of people. She deserved a lot more than being stabbed in the back by a jealous robot." John sadly nodded, and Carlton continued. "She was a great friend, and I don't want the same thing to other people like her."

Clay walked out of the bathroom, carrying Charlie's body. He glanced at the two others, nodding and walking away. Once outside and at the base of the hill Aunt Jen's house was standing on, Clay walked towards his car. He placed Charlie's body in the trunk, and stepped inside the car. The car drove away in the heavy rain.

* * *

The sound of thunder and rain roared outside. It has been ten long minutes since they Clay has left. Carlton was asleep on the couch, and John looked out the window, seeing many abandoned buildings. _Such wasted potential_. John knew something awful was going on behind the scenes. Elizabeth was most likely behind the phone call and Charlie's death, yet the reason the call would likely be made is to trick him to going here—but the only thing he found was Charlie's corpse, which was moved to the bathroom. _Someone hid the body._ A chill traveled down John's spine. He glanced at Carlton, still asleep. He got up, hands in pockets.

He walked towards Aunt Jen's office, which was a slight mess. His eyes only glanced at the smashed sunglasses on the floor. He stepped inside the closet that he witnessed Charlie die in. Turning on his flashlight, he gazed inside. There was a small pool of blood on the floor, and an endoskeleton with blazing silver eyes, wielding a bloody knife. John–startled, jumped back in fear, before quickly finding his bearings. He stared at the endoskeleton and its blazing silver eyes, noticing the lack of motion from either. John sighed in relief, walking over to the endoskeleton and locating a small red switch on its neck. John flipped the switch, and the endoskeleton's eyes powered off.

John scanned the rest of the closet with his flashlight, completely forgetting about the pool of blood on the floor. The closet was completely empty. Elizabeth was nowhere to be seen, Charlie wasn't either. John knew Charlie was moved, as Clay discovered her body stuffed inside the bathroom, not in the closet. It seemed to be the nail in the coffin, John knew Elizabeth was behind this. All he needed to do was to find her. John stepped out of the closet, turning his flashlight off.

John walked back inside the living room, tapping Carlton on the shoulder several times. Carlton awoke from his doze. "Yeah?"

"Carlton, I don't feel like we're alone. We should be ready in case Elizabeth comes and snatches us up. Besides, you've stayed up all night before, you can handle it right?," John asked.

"Yeah," Carlton answered. "I can stay awake for tonight, but at least get me some coffee," Carlton suggested.

"Can do," John accepted as he walked towards the kitchen. John frowned as he the realization hit him. "Well, there's a bit of a problem. I don't know how to make coffee." Carlton sighed as he got up and walked towards the kitchen. He opened the fridge, opening a carton of half and half. John walked back into the living room, opening his bag up. He reached for his notebook, opening to the next blank page. Being a writer, he always kept a journal with him. He began writing...

_"July 7th, 1999. It has been two months since Charlie has died. I have received a call from someone sounding like Charlie, who I can only assume to be Elizabeth. Upon grabbing Carlton and Clay, I discovered that Elizabeth is gone, and Charlie's corpse was hidden in the bathroom without any clothes. Elizabeth is alive, and she is out in the open. I need to catch her before she escapes, but I can't until Clay comes back in the morning."_

John looked over his note, reading it to himself silently. The handwriting was not very neat, considering he was writing on his lap as opposed to using a flat surface to write on. He didn't care much anyway—a note was a note. Once finished, he put his pen and notebook away in his bag.

Carlton walked back into the living room. He sat down on a chair, stretching out his arms and legs. Though he wanted to believe Charlie was alive, he couldn't deny the fact that he saw Charlie's corpse. Carlton rubbed his eyes, laying back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, I guess? I probably shouldn't say that, but anyway, if you liked this chapter or story so far, please leave a review or comment about your thoughts, it would be appreciated!


	3. Chapter Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter took a while to make, mainly due to the fact that I have been busy with other things. But still, here is the third chapter. This chapter will be a lot more intense than the previous two chapters, and it is here that things finally begin to take off. As such, this chapter will be much longer than the other chapters. As always, if you enjoyed this, please rate and review. 

Charlie stood inside the telephone booth, shivering in the cold. She has been waiting impatiently for Jessica to arrive for quite a while. She might not have minded staying in the telephone as much if it wasn't for the cold. Though it was not raining inside, the cold from outside made Charlie feel that she was inside a refrigerator. Charlie sighed. _'Only a few more minutes...,'_ she thought to herself. She really couldn't stand being alone much longer.

Charlie used this time to reflect on her past. The past few months have introduced nothing but pain to her. From her death by Twisted Freddy, to her coming face to face with her own doppelganger, to dying again and coming back. Even the events of Freddy's 2 years ago left a large scar over her, and she was unable to forget about it. Her finding out that animatronics can come back to live, as well as her father's involvement in Freddy's, was a shock. But the largest shock and blow to her was finding out what she really was—a robot. Not a human, but an advanced artificial intelligence capable of emotion and other things. She felt for a moment that her friends wouldn't accept her if she told her friends, that they would believe she wasn't "real". Looking back, that would probably have been unlikely if she had survived, but she didn't want anyone to know about her secret either way.

Rain droplets smacked against the glass. There was the occasional thunder and lightning, but other than that, things were fairly quiet outside. The sound of rain was almost relaxing to her, it let her blow off some steam over her past. She closed her eyes, trying her hardest to ignore the bitter cold. She was growing impatient with waiting for Jessica to arrive.

There was a police car parked near the hill that Aunt Jen's house was located on. Charlie shifted her attention to the police car, but her curiosity soon turned to bitter horror as her blood froze. The police officer was carrying a body, a body that looked exactly like the corpse she woke up to. Studying the officer's face, she realized exactly who she was looking at—Clay Burke.

A chill went down her nonexistent spine. She buried her face in her hands, completely ignoring the cold. She messed up by calling John, and it lead up to this. Charlie sat down on the ground, completely soaking her jeans in water, but she didn't pay attention. She was utterly terrified, knowing that Clay at any moment could inform her friends that she was dead. Charlie couldn't imagine what would happen to her if her friends turned against her, thinking she was Elizabeth. And worse, Charlie had no clue how to prove to them that she was Charlie, after all Elizabeth had her memories.

Charlie shivered, tearing up slightly as she reflected how she may have just ruined her life. Time almost stopped for her, or maybe it sped up. She didn't know, and her trance would continue for ten long minutes. She regretted calling John, as it led to to Clay discovering her old body. She believed that Clay would tell the others about her death. Charlie completely ignored the sound of footsteps approaching, and that of a door being opened nearby.

"Charlie?," a young female voice called out closeby. She would be brought right out of her trance upon hearing her name be called. She would bolt up from the ground, sharply turning to face the person who has called her. A teenage girl with long blonde hair and a pink shirt was right in front of her, someone who looked just like Jessica. Charlie's heartbeat finally began to slow down at least a little bit, sighing.

"Charlie? Are you alright?," Jessica asked worriedly, getting even closer to Charlie. Jessica took note of Charlie's frightened expression. Before she could ask anything else though, Charlie ran right up to Jessica, throwing her arms around her. Jessica gave Charlie a confused and concerned expression, but hugged Charlie back. They were both happy that they got to see each other again. The two would not talk for another minute.

Jessica backed away from Charlie, feeling a sudden rush of dizziness and nausea. She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment. Charlie looked up at Jessica, who was noticeably taller than Charlie. Jessica's eyes opened again as her breathing improved. "I'm alright, don't worry," Jessica said. "Aren't you cold out here?"

Charlie silently nodded. Jessica put her arm around Charlie's back. "Look, you should take it easy. I mean this entire thing has to be stressful on you." Charlie forced a smile, but deep down she felt terrified. Jessica brought Charlie to her car, opening the door. Charlie didn't say anything as she got inside, and neither did Jessica. Charlie sat down in the passenger seat, putting a belt on. She appreciated the heat after having been showered in the cold for nearly an hour. She sat back, closing her eyes, then glancing at Jessica. She was glad she wasn't alone anymore, but she was also terrified because Clay knew about her counterpart's death. Jessica hit the gas and the car took off.

Charlie looked out the window as the car drove past Aunt Jen's house. _'I miss her,_ ' Charlie thought to herself. She really did miss her, she did everything she could to save Charlie, and yet she was brutally murdered by her doppelganger. There was no way in hell Charlie could forgive Elizabeth for doing that. Both Jessica and Charlie exchanged glances.

"Charlie...," Jessica began. "Why were you gone for so long?," she asked. Charlie sighed, knowing she couldn't answer it in the car.

"I don't want to talk about it right now," Charlie answered. She looked back out the side window, watching the rain fade away. It was still cloudy, but at least it wasn't cold. Charlie looked down, noticing the car seat is completely soaked. She decided to ignore it. She looked back out the window, watching destroyed and abandoned homes whizz past her. It was a shame because the only reason people came to this town anymore was to collect wood and other materials from buildings.

Ten long minutes passed without either of the two saying anything. The car passed by the "Welcome to Hurricane!" sign. Charlie's eyes stayed focused on that sign. _'How many times have I seen that?,'_ she thought to herself. Jessica's eyes remained fixated on the road. It would be some time before the car would get to her apartment. Charlie glanced at Jessica again, unsure of what to say. She knew she had to tell Jessica about her being dead at some point, something Charlie has been dreading since she made the call.

"You know, you're awfully quiet," Jessica remarked, glancing at Charlie. Jessica did feel a little dizzy, but she ignored it.

"Sorry, it's just that the past few months have really been stressful for me, more so than I can handle," Charlie explained. "You're probably wondering what happened to me two months ago, but I sadly can't tell you, not right now." Jessica sighed, annoyed that Charlie is hiding things from her, making that much more suspicious of her.

"Why are you hiding things from me though? I'm your friend, you can talk to me," Jessica suggested, trying to get Charlie to let the cat out of the bag. Charlie was still hesitant though, shaking her head and squeezing her eyes shut.

"I'm not ready, that's all," Charlie whispered just loud enough for Jessica to hear. Jessica nodded, somewhat understanding Charlie, yet her curiosity starting to get the better of her. "There are some things that people just shouldn't know, things that tear apart friendships and everything." Jessica nodded, and Charlie went on. "I mean how would you feel if you found out I was a vampire my whole life?," Charlie asked with a hint of sincerity.

"That would be awesome! I would love it if one of my friends was a vampire." Jessica answered, her bright voice being somewhat irritating to Charlie.

Charlie sighed and shook her head. "I guess you're right. Maybe I'm overreacting to this whole thing," Charlie closed her eyes. "I just feel like the entire world is falling apart around me." Charlie shivered.

"I felt that way when I found out your doppelganger was... well, a doppelganger." Jessica tried to connect with Charlie, as if trying to tell her what is happening is normal. Of course, it went right over Charlie's head.

"No, you don't understand. That was just one person, but imagine one day, all your friends go against you. How would you feel?," Charlie asked.

"I would feel betrayed, but I would try to get them to side with me. I would be persistent, I wouldn't give up." Charlie nodded in agreement. Jessica went on. "Charlie, listen to me. I'll always be on your side, trust me. I've made some mistakes too, but you learn from them, you don't beat yourself with a hammer over them."

Charlie stretched her arms and legs out. She wasn't ready to tell Jessica anything important yet, she only wanted to get to Jessica's apartment and spend some time with a friend. It was a shame that she couldn't eat or drink anymore, as Circus Baby. That would be something she would miss, and the lack of her eating would be very suspicious to her friends. Charlie buried her face in her hands, realizing the size of the mess she had created by letting herself die on that fateful night.

The car passed by the abandoned mall that used to surround Freddy's. Charlie didn't have much of a reaction to it. _'An old place that needed to die,_ ' Charlie thought to herself. She herself enjoyed Freddy's until she discovered the horrible past of it. She couldn't help but wonder why the Henry even made the springsuits in the first place. After all, William could have easily used a regular suit to gain strength.

 _'Wait...'_ Charlie paused. _'How could a glorified fursuit make someone stronger? How could a fursuit with a metal endoskeleton make someone stronger?,'_ Charlie wondered. Her father was the one who designed and built the original animatronics. All the four animatronics were springsuits, just like Spring Bonnie and Freddy.

Charlie couldn't help but wonder why springsuits were created in the first place. It shouldn't be too hard to fit a costume on an endoskeleton, so why should a company waste lots of money designing suits that can crush people?

Charlie shivered again. It seemed to her that the springsuits' ability to collapse on their wearer was not a design flaw as much as an intended feature. What if, _somehow_ , when someone dies in a springsuit, their life force is trapped inside the metal endoskeleton, the _hybrid_ endoskeleton, and when someone wears the animatronic in suit mode, it somehow makes them stronger? That theory would seem to make sense, it would explain why Afton loved wearing the suit so much—it made him stronger. But that would have to mean someone died inside the Spring Bonnie suit before Afton did, so who was it?

"Hey Jessica," Charlie turned to face her friend. "What happened to William Afton?"

Jessica didn't look at Charlie, but answered, focusing on the road. "Afton died. Carlton told me his animatronics turned on him"

"And what about the _suit_ Afton wore? The Spring Bonnie suit The one he died in the first time around?"

"I don't know honestly. It might be stuck underneath your father's destroyed home still, since that was where you last saw William," Jessica answered.

"That's fair enough. Thanks," Charlie finished. She looked out the window once again, seeing a few protestors in the streets demanding the local minimum wage to be raised. Usual things that happen all across the country. Charlie rubbed her eyes, remembering the letter her father gave to Aunt Jen, telling her to burn down his house and to kill anything that came out.

"I'll never forgive Elizabeth for what she did," Charlie said. "I'll never forgive her for killing my aunt."

Jessica looked at Charlie for once. "Look, I wouldn't either, but you need to relax. You're working yourself up over this whole thing, and you need to calm down. Please, just take a break," Jessica said worriedly. Charlie nodded, resting her head against the window.

"I'm sorry..."

"You're doing yourself more harm than good." Charlie nodded, still looking out the window. The car slowed down as it approached an apartment complex, presumably the one that Jessica lives in. The car pulled into the back parking lot. Jessica removed the keys, grabbing her bag.

"That was a quick drive, wasn't it?," Jessica asked Charlie, not really expecting an answer.

"Yeah," Charlie answered. "By the way, thanks for the ride. I couldn't trust myself to be able to walk from Aunt Jen's house to your apartment," Charlie added on.

"No problem. You can stay as long as you want, because you don't really have much of a home anymore. And besides, I see you as my best friend so you're always welcome," Jessica said, smiling. Charlie smiled too, not a fake or forced smile this time, but a genuine smile, one she hadn't ever made since she woke up from John's car two months ago.

Jessica led Charlie to her apartment. She opened the door and the two walked inside. Charlie made sure to close the door, even though Jessica was going to do it anyway. Jessica didn't comment on it. Jessica's apartment itself wasn't very stylish or decorated, it felt plain,. "Want me to make you something? You're probably starving."

"No thank you, I'm not hungry," Charlie said. "But thanks for the offer." Charlie was lying of course. She physically couldn't eat or drink anything, which was something she needed to get used to.

Jessica yawned. "Well I'm tired myself. You called me at like 11 at night, but since it was you that called, I didn't care at all. You're my friend, and we all missed you. Also, speaking of your other friends, why didn't you want me to tell them about you?," Jessica asked.

Charlie's heart sunk. She had been dreading this conversation. She didn't want the others to know because she called John, and John probably met with Clay, Clay found her body, and she didn't want that to do with anything. Charlie knew that at some point, Jessica would find out about her "death".

"Well, it's a long story, but I just wanted to spend time with you before things get out of control... and besides, remember how I said I messed up? Well, things will get even worse for me if my other friends meet up with me," Charlie said. Jessica sighed.

"Why are you being so cryptic though? I won't annoy you or bother you if you did something wrong, I mean we all make mistakes. You asked how I would react if I found out you were a vampire. Now I know vampires don't exist, but you're going off something similar there. There is something about you that could make others go against you that is just starting to show, right?"

"Yeah..." Charlie nodded embarrassingly.

"Well listen to me. Even if something like that is happening, I want you to know that I'm on your side. I'm your friend after all, and friends are supposed to help each other, not hurt each other."

"You're right... but I just don't want to tell you right now, I'm not ready, and I don't think you are either."

Jessica sighed. "It's fine, but I'm really worried about you. You've been gone for months, and you call me out of the blue, and you don't even want me to make you anything?," Jessica asked. She was getting even more suspicious of Charlie, mainly her refusing to eat or drink. Jessica was sure that Charlie hadn't eaten anything since she had woken up, so she thought a little generosity would help, but Charlie refused even that.

"I'm really sorry," Charlie said, frowning.

"I'm going to go make my coffee now. I'm exhausted," Jessica said. Charlie nodded. Jessica smiled to Charlie, as she walked towards the kitchen. Charlie sat down on the sofa, looking down at the carpet. She was glad that she was with a friend, but she was in deep regret of calling John. Her relationship with him has pretty much ended with him accepting Charlie as dead. If she ever tried to talk to John again, he would surely think she was Elizabeth.

 _"Was this what you wanted?,"_ a faint but menacing voice echoed all around her. Charlie almost froze. She looked around, but couldn't locate the source of the sound. It was all around her, as if she was inside an echo chamber.

 _"Oh, you won't have much luck finding me. Your friend over in the kitchen can't even hear me,"_ the voice almost childishly said. The voice was definitely feminine, eerily familiar.

"Who are you?," Charlie called out. There was no response from the voice this time. Charlie closed her eyes.

Jessica stopped what she was doing and ran over to the living room. "Charlie?," she asked with a concerned look on her face. "What's wrong?"

"I think I'm hearing things," she answered. Jessica sat down next to her, scratching her head.

"You're stressing yourself out. Maybe you should try to get some rest, hallucinations often happen to people who haven't slept for a long time." Jessica was trying to help, but deep down she felt as if something sinister was happening. _'What if the voices she is hearing are real?,'_ she thought. Jessica shrugged it off, assuming the latter one.

"Maybe you're right," Charlie said. Jessica smiled at her, getting up to let Charlie lie down on the couch. Jessica walked into her room, grabbing her phone. She dialed in Carlton's number and gave it a call. She knew she was breaking her promise of not telling her friends about Charlie, but Jessica was getting suspicious of her.

After a short while, an answer came. "This is Carlton's father Clay. Carlton is out with a friend, but if you want to talk to me, that is perfectly fine."

Jessica didn't mind. "Hey Clay, so I have some great news that Carlton would really like to hear," Jessica said excitedly.

"Well, go right ahead. I'll tell him tomorrow," Clay said.

"Well I found Charlie. She doesn't seem to be doing well, but I'm happy that she's okay."

Clay sighed deeply. "Jessica, listen to me right now. That isn't Charlie," Clay said. He felt like he was a doctor announcing the death of a patient. "Charlie is dead, she'd been dead for over two months. We found her body hidden in the bathroom of Aunt Jen's house, without any clothes on. John insisted that Charlie died in the office closet, and that she was moved ," Clay said.

Jessica's heart froze. She was unable to believe what she was hearing. Jessica picked Charlie up, she was alive, she literally saw her in person, and yet Clay was telling her she was dead. "I'm not willing to believe that, I literally picked Charlie up! She felt as real as it got, I swear she really is Charlie," Jessica said, trying to defend Charlie.

"Charlie is dead. The person you are with isn't Charlie. John told me that both Elizabeth and Charlie died two months ago, yet only Charlie's body was found," Clay said. "John got a phone call from a girl that sounded like Charlie a few hours ago, and we traced the call to Aunt Jen's house."

Jessica couldn't figure out any way to defend her stance. She couldn't think of any evidence that would suggest that Charlie was real. Jessica sighed. "That's where Charlie was when she called me... she just felt just like Charlie, the way she spoke, the way she acted... I guess she really did trick me again," Jessica said.

"John is almost completely sure the Charlie you saw was really Elizabeth. It would explain why she wasn't in Aunt Jen's house. Hey, tell me. Did you happen to feel sick when you were around her?"

Jessica's eyes widened as she recalled the moment when she hugged Charlie back in Silver Reef. She felt a sudden wave of nausea back there. "Yeah, I felt like I was going to vomit when I was in Silver Reef picking up Charlie. I also felt disoriented... wait, wasn't that something John felt when he was near those twisted animatronics?"

"It was. It was one of the reasons John suspected the Charlie she saw at the diner of not being Charlie at all. Look, I want you to stay where you are. Don't let her find out you know who she really is. Act normal around her, and please be careful. I'm going to get Carlton and John, they are at Aunt Jen's house. They know how to deal with this sort of thing."

Jessica buried her face in her hands. She couldn't believe this was happening to her. She had at least hoped that Charlie was real, but it was clear to her that it wasn't. Jessica sat down on her chair, needing some time for herself. She drummed her fingers against the arms of the chair, trying to figure out what to do.

Charlie was laying on the couch, about to fall asleep. Her illusion held strong even when she was about to fall asleep. As soon as her mind drifted off, the familiar voice from before began to emerge.

 _"Did you miss me?,"_ the voice asked, imitating Charlie's own voice. Charlie was startled by the voice, looking around herself.

"Who are you?," Charlie cried out in the pitch black void she was in. Subtle footsteps approached her from behind. Charlie spun around to attempt to see the person following her. It was herself. She was looking at a duplicate of herself, it had the same exact features Charlie had.

"I'm you," the other Charlie said. The real Charlie shivered and backed away.

"You're not me! You're an imposter, show yourself!," Charlie yelled at the duplicate of herself. The duplicate obliged, changing their appearance to match Charlie's true form, or rather, Circus Baby's true form. Charlie's heart seemed to freeze. "Elizabeth," Charlie angrily cursed to herself.

Elizabeth grinned. "I'm glad you remember me. How do you feel about your friends turning against you one by one? How do you feel about Clay knowing about your death?," Elizabeth asked.

"I hate it! Look, you're responsible for all of this. You _murdered_ my aunt, how do you think _I_ feel about it?"

"I honestly don't care about how you feel about your aunt. Every time you die, your aunt comes back and puts you back together. She needed to die," Elizabeth said firmly.

"Elizabeth, why do you want me dead? What did I ever do to you?," Charlie asked rather loudly. Thunder seemed to echo throughout the dark void the two were in.

"You did _everything_ to me. You killed my father, you turned him into a zombified mess. You pushed me aside and made it all about you, meanwhile I was _trapped inside a closet!_ ," Elizabeth screamed at that last part, loud enough to startle Charlie.

"Look, I didn't even know about you. I wish I could have done something, but I didn't even know you existed. I'm sorry," Charlie said. Elizabeth tilted her head.

"Oh, but it's too late now. You aren't even alive, unlike me. Why should you even live? I actually had a life and a true father, unlike you, who Henry only built to please the hole in his weak little heart so he could have another girl to call Charlie. If it wasn't for him, you wouldn't even be here, daddy would be alive, and the world would be a much better place."

Charlie looked down at the black void beneath her. "I'm sorry that I had things you didn't have, but that is how life works. Life is never fair," Charlie said, trying to reason with Elizabeth using truth.

Elizabeth ran up to Charlie, grabbing her by the throat and squeezing it, lifting her up. "Say that again. Say it!," Elizabeth screamed at Charlie, as if she were having a temper tantrum. That was when it clicked for Charlie. This is her having a temper tantrum, as if she was a toddler.

Charlie was unable to fight back Elizabeth's choke-hold. She closed her eyes, almost expecting Elizabeth to let her go, which she did not. "You are _alone._ You have no friends to help you, no animatronics to defend you, and no environment for you to use against me. You are trapped in here with me, and there is no exit."

Charlie's breathing began to slow down as the circulation to her head was being cut off. "You probably think of me as a parasite invading your body, but this is _my body._ You are the parasite that is in my body, but now I have you right where I want you to be. You aren't in control anymore, I am."

Elizabeth's grin extended across her entire face. Charlie was powerless to fight back against Elizabeth's grasp, and she watched as everything faded away around her.

 _"I'm in control_ now." Elizabeth's sinister voice echoed around her.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all. This chapter took a long time to make, mainly due to writer's block. But, with that out of the way, this chapter is out. If you have any suggestions regarding the direction of the story, please leave a review. 

John was sitting down in the office chair. He was looking through his notebook, not really reading in detail the information as much as skimming it over. He was exhausted, but unwilling to fall asleep given the current circumstances. John readjusted the chair, being very uncomfortable as is.

Carlton got up from the couch. He walked over to the window, watching the full moon. The moon's light dimly illuminated the abandoned mining town around them. A few gusts of wind came by, knocking over some plants. He studied the scene for a few moments, unsure of what to do. He had seen Charlie's corpse nearly an hour ago, he knew that she was dead.

He turned away from the window, sitting back down on the couch. John stepped inside the living room, rubbing his eyes. He was starting to remember the conversation he had with Charlie in Aunt Jen's house before Elizabeth showed up, and it was very peculiar to him. John waved at Carlton as he sat down on a nearby chair, clearing his throat. "Did you notice anything strange about Charlie two months ago?," John asked.

Carlton shook his head. "I wasn't even with Charlie two months ago, remember?"

"Right, well did you notice anything strange about her when you were with her?," John asked.

"Well of course, everyone has strange features," Carlton said.

John pulled at his hair. "That's not what I meant," he said, raising his voice just slightly. "Did you notice anything unnatural or out of the ordinary about Charlie?"

Carlton closed his eyes for a moment, thinking back. "Well, she did have holes in her memory when she was younger," Carlton recalled.

John bent forward, eyeing Carlton. "What do you mean, holes in her memory?"

"Well, she just seemed to not remember certain things about her past"

"Don't you understand how memory works though? Your brain only holds onto important memories," John said.

Carlton sat back, drumming his fingers. "Yeah, I know. That's how memory works, it's not like we have photographic memory, but it seems like it's different for Charlie. She remembers things in perfect detail, without missing anything. It's like all her memories are just still snapshots of her life," Carlton said.

John stood up from the chair he had been previously sitting in. "I was here with Charlie a few months ago," John started. "Charlie used to have a doll called Ella, it looked just like her when she was a toddler. There were all sorts of drawings of her, each seeming to get bigger and bigger the more i flip through the drawings..."

"That's strange," Carlton commented. His interest got the better of him/

"There was also a note in there, written in Henry's handwriting. It said to burn down the house at some point, and to shoot anything that comes out of it," John added.

Carlton looked down. "If only Aunt Jen listened to that, Charlie would still be alive."

John nodded, looking out the window. There was a police car parked near the base of the hill, its headlights blazing. "What's Clay doing here?," John asked. Carlton shrugged as he turned his attention to the door, and the sound of knocking. Carlton ran over to the door, opening it.

"Dad?," Carlton asked with a concerned look on him. Clay didn't step inside.

"Grab your flashlights and come with me. We don't have much time," Clay said.

Carlton looked at Clay, giving a concerned look. "What's going on?"

"I'll explain when you get in the car. I don't have any time for questions right now," Clay said.

John ran over to the dining room. He grabbed the two tactical flashlights that had been left by them. He turned both flashlights on, checking to see if they work. They both shot out a bright beam of light that made John flinch. He turned both flashlights off, dashing over to Clay and Carlton.

Clay stood outside the door. "You have them?," he asked, not wanting a response as he answered his own question upon seeing him.

John's heart was racing. _'What is going on here?,_ ' he thought to himself. John was carrying the two flashlights in both hands.

Clay extended his hand out. "Give them to me," he requested to John. John handed over the flashlights to him. Clay cleared his throat. "Alright, get in the car. I'll explain everything when we are on the road." Clay turned around, walking outside. John and Carlton walked out the door, closing it behind them. They didn't bother to turn off the lights.

Clay began his trek down the hill. John and Carlton followed, making sure they did not trip on anything. Once they were at the bottom, they walked towards Clay's car. Clay swung open the driver door, getting inside. He opened the glove box, placing the two flashlights inside, just barely fitting. Clay closed the glove box and the door. Carlton and John stepped inside the car. Clay turned around to check on John and Carlton who were sitting in the back. He pushed against the gas, and the car took off.

"So what's going on? Why the rush?," John asked. His heart was racing due to the sudden change of plans.

Clay took a deep breath. "I got a call from Jessica. She told me that she got a phone call from 'Charlie'. She brought Charlie to her house."

John's blood froze. "Jessica?"

"Did you tell her about Charlie dying?," Carlton asked.

"Yes. I told her to stay inside and to wait for us to get there," Clay finished. Carlton and John remained silent. John looked out the window, watching as abandoned buildings zoomed past.

"So what are we going to do?," Carlton asked.

"We're going to kill Elizabeth," Clay firmly said. "It would be a difficult task for sure, which is why we need to stick together."

John laid back in his seat. He couldn't figure out how to defeat Elizabeth, after all she was very adept. "Maybe you should get the police to come in? After all you're the chief."

Clay turned to John. "I can't do that. It would create a mess within the town, conspiracies would fly out everywhere, and there would be mass unrest."

"To hell with a town conspiracy! Jessica is in danger, and we can take out Elizabeth quickly if we surround her house," John said.

"No, genius, it doesn't work like that. Obviously Elizabeth would freak out if a bunch of police cars came to Jessica's house. She would probably kill Jessica and run, we would lose her."

John took a deep breath. "Then what do we do?"

Carlton looked out the window, watching the "Welcome to Hurricane" sign breeze by. "We go in without her noticing, and we kill her," Carlton said. "I don't get what the fuss is."

"It's not as easy as that," John commented. "She would definitely notice us coming in, we need to come in that house armed and prepared," John said. "She's strong. She could use her illusion discs to disguise herself as anyone, even Jessica."

Clay cleared his throat. "There might be a way to make ourselves immune to these illusion discs."

John turned to Clay, tilting his head. "How would we do that?"

"Charlie said the illusion discs worked by sending out high frequency sounds that overloaded the brain, twisting the perception of the person being affected," Clay began. "Perhaps there might be a way to block out these sounds. You probably won't be able to fully block the sounds, but you might be able to tone them down just enough."

John blinked a few times. "Would ear plugs do the trick?"

"They might work, but still, it's no use. I don't have any earplugs with me, do either of you?," Clay asked.

"I don't have any with me," Carlton said, frowning.

"Me neither," John added. He rested his face against the window.

"John, you said those discs made you feel sick, correct?," Clay asked.

John turned to face Clay. "Yeah, but I don't see how that would help. She could disguise herself as one of us, and we wouldn't know who is who. I feel sick when I'm near an illusion disk, not when I look at one."

Carlton bent over, stretching out his legs. "Elizabeth wants us dead. She would probably try to kill us as soon as we walk in. I think by then we would figure out who Elizabeth is."

John looked out the window, watching trees and buildings zoom by. He put his head against the glass, closing his eyes. He had been through so much. When he got the phone call from Elizabeth, there was still a shimmer of hope inside him that she might be Charlie, but he knew better than that. He saw Charlie die himself. Now, he has to go out and kill Elizabeth, which caused another thought to pop up in his head.

"So how would we kill her?," John asked. "She knocked me out really quickly last time."

"I'm not quite sure. I think we'll figure it out when we get there," Clay said.

"Maybe I should point out what wouldn't kill her," John suggested.

Carlton turned to face John. "Please do."

John glanced at Clay, and then at the road. "A stab to any part of the body won't kill her. That's what Charlie tried, well that's what the the real Charlie tried."

"Cut her head off?," Carlton suggested.

John smacked his palm against his forehead. "Cut her head off? Do you understand how difficult that is against a human? Elizabeth's neck is made of hard metal, it would dent any sort of blade that would slash at it."

Carlton turned and looked away from John. "So decapitation and stabbing won't work, then what?"

John looked at Carlton, shaking his head. "She's a robot. She's made of steel all around. You're basically asking to take out The Terminator."

Carlton sighed. "Well those things are almost impossible to kill, say for fire and by crushing."

"I mean we don't even know what we're up against," John remarked.

John and Carlton were jerked forward as the car slowed down. John looked out the window, seeing a decorated sign illuminated by some lights, reading "Hill Apartments". A chill traveled down John's spine, knowing this was where Jessica lived. The car came to a stop.

Clay reached for his holster, getting out his revolver. He cocked the firearm, holding it firmly. "Alright. You two are going to be behind me. Do not turn on your flashlights until I tell you to," Clay said. The two nodded as Clay handed them their tactical flashlights. Clay stepped out of the car, and the two followed suit.

Clay walked over to Carlton, handing him his revolver. "I taught you how to use a gun when you were younger, be very careful." Carlton took the revolver, opening it up to check how many bullets were inside, then closing it. Clay walked over to the trunk of his car, opening it. He then opened a box that was cleverly disguised as part of the car, revealing all sorts of guns and ammunition. Clay picked up a shotgun, grabbing eight breaching shells. He loaded the shells inside the shotgun, then he closed the box and the trunk. "Alright, I want you two to stay behind me. And please, whisper. I don't want us to be heard."

John looked up, seeing the only source of light out in this darkness being the moon. Clay walked towards the inside of the apartment complex. He made sure to stay off the grass to avoid unnecessary noise. Him and the others reached the inner apartment complex. There were two apartments that had their lights on. One of these, John knew was Jessica's apartment. John pointed to the nearest apartment on the right. "It's the one with the lights on," John whispered.

Clay walked towards Jessica's apartment, firmly holding his shotgun. John shivered as the group got up to the door. He turned around, checking everything that is behind him. Once he was sure there was nothing following them, he turned towards the apartment.

Clay walked up to the door, trying the knob. It shook slightly, but the door didn't open. "Back away," Clay whispered. The other two nodded, backing away. Clay pressed the muzzle of his shotgun against the door lock. He pulled the trigger, and the lock was destroyed following the loud explosion. All three of them covered their ears following the loud sound of the shotgun firing. Clay cocked his shotgun, kicking open the door. "Stay behind me," Clay said, seeing no reason to whisper as the sound of the shotgun firing would have easily alerted anyone inside.

Clay was the first to step inside. He firmly held his shotgun as he scanned the living room. He gestured John and Carlton to follow. The two followed behind them.

A loud scream echoed from inside the house. Clay quickly ran towards the room in which the scream took place, with Carlton following shortly after. Once inside the room, the two very clearly saw what was going on. Jessica was restrained by Charlie, a butcher knife pressed against her neck. Jessica was clearly struggling.

"Jessica!," Carlton yelled, running toward Jessia.

Charlie pushed against Jessica's neck with the knife even further. "One more step and she dies," Charlie said. John ran into the office room, wielding his tactical flashlight as if it were a baseball bat. Charlie grinned, turning towards John. "Oh, look who it is. John, you're going to be the first to die."

Carlton pointed his pistol at the fake Charlie, finger on the trigger. "One wrong move and I shoot you."

Charlie frowned. "One wrong move, and your friend here dies."

Carlton clenched his teeth. "What do you want with her?"

Charlie tilted her head. "Oh, I already got what I wanted from her." She released Jessica from her grasp, throwing her across the room. Jessica screamed as she crashed into a nearby table. Clay ran towards Jessica. "Hey, don't move. You're hurt," Clay said as he checked her.

John's eyes widened. "Why did you do that?"

Charlie blinked a few times. "You're lucky I didn't kill her instead."

"Why did you want her?," John asked, raising his voice even more.

"I knew she would bring you here. It was the perfect opportunity for revenge." The fake Charlie closed her eyes, and her body shifted into her true form. She was wearing Charlie's clothes which did not quite fit her.

Carlton nodded. John looked up at Elizabeth. "What do you want with us?"

"I want to eradicate all who stand witness to the experiments of William Afton."

John tilted his head, eyes widening even more. "Experiments? What experiments?," he asked.

"Oh, why immortality, of course. What else would he have wanted?"

John backed away from Elizabeth. "Immortality?," he asked.

Elizabeth didn't stop John from stepping away, instead continuing her monologue. "He wanted to make animatronics that could contain the souls of others. He believed that animatronics could be used to save lives," Elizabeth began. "But he needed test subjects, and so he killed five children at Freddy's, using the animatronic suits. As he predicted, the life force and souls of the children were absorbed into the animatronics, but they began to act strange. They were full of agony and hatred."

"Of course they were, William killed them!," John screamed back at Elizabeth.

Elizabeth grinned. "Of course, that was nothing too difficult for William to take care of. In fact, William had prepared for this. Before he killed the children, he set up a sort of "maze" if you will, for the children to come in to. The devices that you call illusion discs were scattered everywhere. They were used manipulate their young minds into seeing themselves go through stressful and dangerous situations, such as seeing horrific looking animatronics that attack them, only for William to come around and "rescue" them from their dangers. This way, they wouldn't see William as the one that killed them, and instead, they would see him as their savior."

Carlton looked down in absolute disgust. "That's sick. Why would someone be so infatuated with immortality?"

Elizabeth looked at Carlton. "Because of _me_. I died to one of William's animatronics due to an accident that was my fault. William didn't want that to happen ever again, to anyone else."

John turned to face Elizabeth. "Why did you call me?," John asked. He was truly curious.

Elizabeth's grin faded away, blinking several times. "I do not recall ever calling you." John looked at Elizabeth, then at Carlton. Carlton shrugged. Elizabeth frowned. "I mean... I called you to bring you here!," Elizabeth said, her grin coming back.

John looked down. "Obvious nonsense. I will never forgive you for what you did to Aunt Jen," John said, then pushing Elizabeth into a stack of crates. Elizabeth stumbled back. "Clay! Now!," John said, signaling him to shoot Elizabeth. Clay got up from the ground, running up to Elizabeth and cocking his shotgun. He pointed the muzzle at Elizabeth and fired several rounds, each scattering around Elizabeth's body, piercing it but not severely damaging her.

John stood over Elizabeth. "Why did William kidnap Sammy?"

Elizabeth laughed, dumbfounded. "Oh, you still believe Henry's lies, don't you?"

John sighed. "Henry killed himself because he lost his only son. Why did William do that?"

Elizabeth's grin started to straighten out. "William didn't kill Henry's _son._ He killed Charlie."

"Charlie? Charlie was alive until a few months ago," John said.

"Oh, Charlie was never alive, or even human for that matter. Charlie died inside that Freddy suit, how do you think she could have came back from that, all the while being inside an old box?"

John shrugged. "I don't know."

"Exactly. Every time Charlie dies, she comes back to life thanks to her Aunt Jen. That's why I killed her."

"Why do you hate Charlie so much?"

"Because he had ruined everything my father had worked so hard to achieve. He could have saved the entire world by making immortality possible, but you she had to come along and ruin it. Every innovation has some bloodshed."

"Well then I'm sorry, but you're lost."

Elizabeth giggled as she got up from the pile of boxes, shoving John away. "You're lost. You ruined everything, and now you will suffer for it."

Carlton pointed his revolver at Elizabeth. "I'll see you in hell," Carlton said as he fired his revolver at Elizabeth. The bullet only dented Elizabeth's arm. Carlton's eyes widened.

"Your primitive weapons are useless against me." Elizabeth slowly approached the four, knife in hand. They backed away from her.

"John," Carlton said. "Your flashlight."

John looked at his flashlight, realizing it is a tactical flashlight. John stared at Elizabeth, flashlight in hand. He bolted towards Elizabeth. Elizabeth's eyes widened. John, reaching Elizabeth, kicked her down. He knocked the knife out of her hands and he pinned her down. "Got her!"

Elizabeth grinned. "I don't a weapon to kill you."

Before the others had time to react, three dog-shaped animatronics emerged from behind Elizabeth. They were an amalgamation of metal wires that were _somehow_ able to operate on their own. Their eyes were glowing red, and they had razor sharp teeth. Their jaws were agape, poised to bite.

Carlton ran over to Jessica, bending over. "Can you walk?," he asked. Jessica nodded as she got up from the floor. Carlton helped her get up on her feet.

Clay cocked his shotgun once again. The three dogs surrounded Elizabeth as she grinned. "Kill them. Kill all of them. Show no mercy to them, tear them apart and bring their remains to me," Elizabeth demanded.

John turned from Jessica, looking at Elizabeth and her animatronic dog servants. The dogs stared at them with their piercing red eyes. "We have to get out of here!," Carlton yelled as he pointed his gun firmly at Elizabeth. Elizabeth's grin seemed to get even wider. Jessica slowly began to get up.

In unison, the animatronic dogs charged at them. Clay fired his shotgun at one of the dogs, knocking it out. John, Jessica, and Carlton bolted out the room while Clay remained, cocking his shotgun again. "Come on!," Carlton said, yelling at Clay. "We don't have time for heroics." Clay turned around, following the group and joining them. The group slammed the door to the office behind them. John turned around, looking at the door. Banging and scratching were heard from the other side of the door, and claw marks already started to form.

"Well don't just stand here, we have to get out of here!," John said. John and Carlton ran into the living room. They bolted towards the door, with Clay following close behind. Carlton turned around, his heart racing. "Where's Jessica?," he asked. Both Clay and John's eyes widened at just the possibility of someone being left behind.

Jessica ran out from the hallway. The sound of a door being blown open echoed throughout the house. Elizabeth walked out from the hallway leading to the office. Three of her animatronic dog servants were close behind her.

"Jessica, run!," Carlton yelled. Jessica bolted towards the three as fast as she could, but she tripped and fell. Jessica screamed in absolute fear as she saw an animatronic dog bolt towards Jessica.

Jessica tried to get up, but the animatronic dog jumped atop her. It dug its claws into Jessica's shoulders, and she screamed in agony. Blood trickled down her sleeve, and Jessica collapsed on the floor. Jessica clenched her teeth to attempt to numb the pain. The dog opened its jaw, revealing hundreds of razor sharp teeth. Jessica's eyes widened, and the pain she felt in her shoulder vanished as her heart beated faster than a bullet. Time seemed to freeze for her as she watched the animatronic dog's jaw open even further, as if it were about to bite her, but the bite never came. Instead, the dog was launched across the room, screaming. Jessica turned and looked up, seeing a hand reaching out for her. It was Carlton. Jessica grabbed his hand and stood up, ignoring the agonizing pain in her shoulder.

Carlton broke into a dash, running towards the door. "Come on!," John yelled as Carlton got closer to him. "We don't have much time!" The two animatronic dogs chased after them, and they seemed to be picking up speed. John released the door, running out with Clay. Carlton and Jessica dashed out the door, just narrowly escaping the two animatronic dogs.

The moonlight seemed to be brighter than when they first arrived at the apartment complex. The four were running towards the exit of the complex. Carlton turned his head, eyes widening as two extra animatronic dogs were chasing them, in addition to the original two. "They're following us!," Carlton shouted.

The dogs didn't stop in their efforts to catch the four. Carlton's bones began to ache horribly, but he kept going. He knew that if he stopped, he would die. He grasped his revolver tightly, not wanting to drop it. He turned forward, seeing Clay's car a few hundred yards away. _'We're almost there..._ _'_

The group finally reached the car. Clay reached for his pocket, looking for the keys. John struggled to open the car door. As he pulled at the door handle, he turned his head, facing the inside of the apartment complex. The four animatronic dogs charged for the car at lightning speed. Time seemed to freeze for John as he watched the dogs get closer and closer. "Carlton!," John yelled. "Distract those dogs!"

Carlton turned around, seeing the dogs bolting towards them. He cocked his revolver, and he fired a shot at one of the dogs. The bullet smashed through the metal wires of the animatronic dog, mangling the dog up in the process. Carlton pointed the revolver at another one of the dogs. He pulled the trigger, but no shot came out. His eyes widened as the dogs continued to close in on him at the car.

Clay found his keys and inserted a key inside the car. He swung the door open and slid inside. "Come on! Get in, it's open!," Clay yelled. John swung open the car door, getting in, sliding to the seat on the far left to make room for the others. Jessica and Carlton got inside, closing the door behind them. John looked out the window, seeing the animatronic dogs charging at the car. They were only meters away from smashing through the glass and killing them.

Clay hit the gas on his car, and the car took off. John turned around, looking out the window. Two animatronic dogs were following them, somehow. John turned to Clay. "They're following us! You have to go faster," John said. Clay pushed against the gas pedal even harder as the car sped up, and after a few moments, the animatronic dogs vanished into the darkness of night. John sighed in relief.

Carlton turned to Jessica. She was bleeding severely from the animatronic dog clawing her shoulder earlier. It was clear that she was trying to hide her pain. Carlton opened the console for the car, obtaining a first aid kit. Carlton pulled back against her shirt, exposing the wound. He winced. _'That must really hurt...,_ _'_ he thought. Carlton took out a pad, and he pushed the pad against her shoulder.

"Ow..," Jessica cried out in pain. Carlton pushed against the wound, wrapping his other arm around her. "How bad is it?," Carlton asked.

"It's really bad, it hurts too much," Jessica said, trying to keep her voice down.

"We're going to get you to a hospital, just please stay calm."

"Carlton," Jessica whispered. "She felt so much like Charlie, and then she just snapped..."

Carlton sighed. "Look, we can talk about this when you get to the hospital. Right now, you need some rest," he whispered.

Jessica silently nodded as she closed her eyes, silently dozing off.

John looked out the window once more, seeing nothing but the pitch black darkness of night and some trees passing by.

"We're going to the hospital to treat Jessica. After that, I'm calling in the police." Clay said.

"I thought you said you weren't getting the police involved," John asked.

"I changed my mind," Clay said. "We can't defeat Elizabeth alone, we need all the help we can get."

John nodded. He looked out the window again, wishing this whole thing was just a terrible nightmare, but this was far from a nightmare. This was reality.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, I guess? I probably shouldn't say that, but anyway, if you liked this chapter or story so far, please leave a review or comment about your thoughts, it would be appreciated!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the lack of updates. I've for a long time been unable to think of what to put into this chapter, and I've been dealing with other issues as well. Anyways, here is the chapter. It's going to be less dramatic than the last chapter, but ultimately I've just been feeling off with this. If you have any suggestions about this chapter, please go ahead and leave a review, or message me.

Charlie stared off into the darkness, her eyes half closed. Her head was tilted forward, unsure of what to do. She thought about what had happened in the past. There were clear signs of something being wrong with her, starting with how Aunt Jen wanted her to avoid going to a hospital for injuries. And then there are the more direct signs, such as the missing memories. Charlie had truly wished she was a human just like her friends, and she had also wished that she never found out what she was, but at the same time she didn't want to forget about her true self. It didn't matter though, she was trapped inside Elizabeth's body.

"Your friends don't care about you anymore," Elizabeth whispered in Charlie's ear from behind. "They care about me instead."

Charlie silently shook her head. She tried to ignore Elizabeth's words, as to her they were lies meant to intimidate her.

"You're all alone."

Charlie opened her eyes again. Charlie couldn't keep ignoring Elizabeth, it simply wouldn't get her anywhere. Instead, she had to confront Elizabeth. She turned around to face her nemesis. "My friends would never leave me behind," Charlie claimed. "They care about me, just like how they cared about me after my apparent death months ago."

Elizabeth chuckled. "You are so naive," she began, eyes lighting up ever so slightly. "Your friends found your old body, carelessly shoved inside a closet. They won't come back for you, because to them, you're _dead._ "

Charlie looked down, feeling nearly defeated. She didn't want to believe her friends found her previous body. Just the possibility of her friends throwing her away would devastate her. Almost all hope would have been lost, and she could never be rescued by them. She sighed, looking back at Elizabeth. "What do you want with me and my friends?"

"John, Jessica, Carlton? They're heading to a nearby hospital after barely escaping me. Next time they won't be so lucky," she explained.

"Escaping you?," she asked.

"Oh yes, I forgot to tell you this. Jessica called Clay the other day, telling him about you coming back. Clay revealed to her that you were dead. Then the others came to try and rescue her from me, a very foolish decision."

Charlie closed her eyes as the memory came flooding back. She remembered Clay carrying her old body from Aunt Jen's house, and she realized this all was true. She opened her eyes, looking into Elizabeth's eyes. "What do you want with me and my friends?"

"You know, they'll soon find out what you _really_ are. They'll find out that you are just a machine, and they'll probably be devastated by it. Just finding out your friend since childhood has been a machine the entire time—it has to be heartbreaking," Elizabeth said, pretending to have some empathy. "That would surely distract them from me, and that's when I will strike them down."

"You can't kill my friends!," Charlie yelled at Elizabeth. "They are a _lot_ stronger than you are. They held their own against four possessed animatronics, an army of robots, and so much more."

Elizabeth couldn't help but laugh at that. "The only reason your friends survived those four animatronics was because a spirit had to come in and stop them. Their minds were beyond brainwashed, going after anyone William desires them to. If Michael wasn't present to keep them at bay, you and your friends would have died."

Charlie clenched her fist, crossing her eyes. "Why do you want to kill me and my friends? What did they ever do to you? They never even knew who you were until now!"

"Oh, you hurt me badly. You turned my father into a disgusting amalgamation of metal and flesh—he wasn't anywhere near alive. He had to use the life force of the dead children so that he could walk and move around, since his soul had nearly been stripped from him," Elizabeth said.

"He tried to kill us! He murdered those kids, and he kidnapped my _brother._ He didn't deserve to live!"

"That doesn't matter to me. You destroyed the only family I ever had," Elizabeth said.

"So _I_ did all of this. Where do my friends fit into all of this? They didn't do anything!," Charlie complained.

"They witnessed my father's work, and they witnessed my work. That is why they need to die."

Charlie sighed. She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to brainstorm a way to get Elizabeth to back down. She opened her eyes again, this time trying to stay calm and collected. She believed she could sway Elizabeth away from evil. "My father died when I was young. I know how you feel, I know how it feels to lose your parent."

"Henry wasn't your father. He was never even around when you needed him. He died long before you came to be, all you knew of him were false memories. You never had a father, and you never had a mother. You don't know how I feel, and you never will."

"You have to let your father go. He murdered dozens of children, he hurt my entire family. He hurt me. He hurt my father. He hurt countless people's lives, and you cling on to him too much."

Elizabeth clenched her fists. "My father was the greatest person to ever exist. He was much of a workaholic, always working on his latest animatronics, but he made them because he cared about me."

Charlie tilted her head, puzzled. "What kind of logic is that? How does making animatronics equate to your father caring about you?"

"Animatronics could be used to save lives. They could be used to grant immortality. That is why I am who I am," Elizabeth said. "I'm free from the restrictions of the human mind, I can be shaped into whatever I please, and I can pretend to be whoever I want to. I _am_ the future." Elizabeth finished.

"He stole my father's creation so he could make his own animatronics," Charlie objected. "He stole _my_ body."

Elizabeth ignored Charlie's last statement. "My father wanted to bring his family back together and make them immortal."

"By trapping them inside animatronics and crushing them?"

Elizabeth chuckled. "Your way of thinking is very peculiar, but yes. Of course that all went away when you killed my father."

"He murdered my friends! He deserved to die."

"He made them a part of his family. His family was larger than ever, and all it took was you to destroy it."

"They didn't want to be a part of your father's family, they wanted to be free!"

"They were _children._ "

"Do you think that changes anything? Why are you defending your father?"

"He was the only family that I ever had. Your father was just a few false memories implanted inside you. If you had a father, you would want to defend him too."

"You are trying to cling on to your father too much. He is dead. There is no way to bring him back, get over it."

"My father wanted me to follow him in his footsteps. I always wanted to make him proud of me," Elizabeth said.

Charlie closed her eyes once more, letting that last sentence sink in. She knew Elizabeth wanted to make her father proud on multiple occasions, but it had just dawned on her that this entire situation may be happening solely because of it. Charlie opened her eyes again. "All you see of your father is a distorted image of a brilliant person. William was far from brilliant, he was a maniac. He devolved into madness with an overambitious goal that required blood to be spilled. You need to let go of him and move on. If you do that, we will forgive you for everything, even for you killing Aunt Jen."

Elizabeth's grin seemed to vanish. "You don't get to tell me what to do. I'm the one in control here, not you. He was my father, and he deserved a lot more respect than how much you gave him. If it were up to me, you would be burning in hell with your 'father'."

Charlie backed away, shocked that she would pass up an opportunity for redemption. "Why would my father be in hell?," Charlie asked.

"Because he clung too much to his lost daughter. She was dead, but he attempted to recreate her, and thus you were born. He couldn't live in a house where his daughter's room was empty."

"So why is it okay for you to cling on to your father, but not okay for someone to cling on to their daughter?"

Elizabeth walked up to Charlie, holding a knife in hand. She shoved the knife in her face. "My family suffered far more than yours."

"Why does your family matter more than mine?"

"Because you don't have a family. You're nothing. You're just a few ones and zeros, that's all. My family was real however. My mother died when I was young, you murdered my father, and my older brother ran away. I have nothing anymore, but you never had anything to begin with."

Charlie looked down, seeing the knife pressed against her neck. "You need to let go of the past. You will lose eventually, you can't keep going like this."

"I can't simply let go of the past, it will always be there," Elizabeth complained.

"If you can't let go of the past, then you will have to let go of the present," Charlie said. Backing away, she kicked the knife out of Elizabeth's hand.

Elizabeth turned to Charlie, startled. "What are you doing?," she asked, clearly frightened.

"I'm taking back what is rightfully mine," Charlie replied. Before Elizabeth could say anything else, Charlie mustered all her strength to kick Elizabeth down onto the ground. She walked over Elizabeth, and kicked her in the stomach one last time.

Elizabeth grinned. "What is rightfully yours, huh? This body?"

Charlie nodded. "I can't let you be in control. You've hurt my friends, and I can't let you hurt them any longer."

"This body is _mine._ My father gave me this body, and he died for it. You have no right to take it away, and you have every right to be tortured," Elizabeth said as she got up from the ground.

Charlie backed away as Elizabeth grabbed her rusty knife from the ground. Charlie tried to figure out a technique to put Elizabeth down, but every scenario that played out in her head ended in failure.

Elizabeth's grin somehow widened. "You can't win here. I'll remain in control of this body, and I'll use it to torture and kill your friends, all while telling them about what you _truly_ are—you're nothing."

"You underestimate them. They have the entire police department on their side, they'll quickly take you out!"

"You're so naive sometimes. I'm not alone, I have an animatronic army in the making that this entire town will submit to," she said.

"An animatronic army?," Charlie asked, slightly frightened.

"You'll find out soon enough, after they tear the flesh off your friends."

Charlie clenched her fists. "I won't let you do that!," she said as she charged towards Elizabeth. Elizabeth stood frozen as Charlie kicked Elizabeth down to the ground. Charlie stepped over Elizabeth, stomping over her several times in an attempt to knock her out. Elizabeth struggled.

"You can't do this! You have to stop!," Elizabeth yelled.

"No, _you_ have to stop. You need to rest," Charlie said as she stomped over Elizabeth's face. Her eyes seemed to dim.

"Then you have played right into my hands," Elizabeth said as her consciousness faded away. Soon enough, Elizabeth herself faded from Charlie's vision as she began to wake up from this dark void.

* * *

Charlie awakened to find herself staring at a cyan colored light. There was a repeated beeping sound coming from behind, though it wasn't very loud. "Ow," Charlie complained, feeling nauseous even though she is a robot. "Everything hurts."

Charlie looked at her surroundings. She seemed to be inside some sort of hallway, with pipes trailing on the ceiling and walls. There were several papers hanging on the walls, but all the writing on them was smeared out. The hallway had a purple hue to it, and there was a box to the left of her. There was a red 'EXIT' sign ahead of her, so she decided to go for it.

She walked towards the exit sign, but stopped dead in her tracks as she realized the door to it was boarded up. Charlie sighed to herself. There was a small crack in the wall, and she decided to peek out it. There was an elevator on the other side of the door. She sighed, turning towards another door to her right, this time it was not boarded up. There was a sign attached to the door, reading 'Animatronic R&D'. Charlie was confused by those words. _'Research and Development?,'_ she asked herself. Seeing no other place to go, she opened the door and stepped inside, bracing herself for anything that could be inside.

The room itself was empty, but there were three doors on opposite sides of the room. The one on the far right was labeled "Project TOYS", and was boarded up. Charlie knew exactly what the toys were, as in the secret pizzeria build underneath her old home. That entire thing just seemed confusing to her—why would William build an animatronic pizzeria underneath her father's house?

Charlie was glad the door was boarded up. It meant that the toys were not a problem anymore. She looked to the far left, seeing a door labeled "Project: NIGHTMARE". Charlie's blood froze upon seeing that title. Just the name nightmare was enough to startle her. Charlie closed her eyes. _'I look like Elizabeth, maybe they'll think I'm her,_ ' she thought to herself. Taking a deep breath, she opened the door and stepped inside.

Inside, the room seemed more like an office than anything. There was a desk on the right side of the room, with a computer placed on it. There were a few chairs on that side too. Charlie looked forward, seeing a table with a dog-shaped animatronic endoskeleton laying down on it. Charlie walked up to the table, studying the animatronic in further detail. It had dozens of razor sharp teeth, and it had visible claws that were also razor sharp. Charlie stepped back, terrified of this creature. ' _Is this what she meant by her animatronic army?,_ ' she thought. Just the idea of an entire army of these things terrified her.

Charlie shivered as she walked over to the desk on the right. She looked at the computer monitor, and she saw what appeared to be some code. She studied the code for a while. After scanning it with her eyes, she came to the conclusion that this was for some sort of animatronic. Charlie walked away from the computer, looking at the rest of the room. There was an office door straight ahead, with a window panel next to it. Charlie walked over to the window panel, attempting to figure out what was inside, but it was pitch black inside there. Charlie turned to the door, turning the knob and opening it. Charlie stepped away as the light from the office filled the dark room.

Inside, there was a stage with a dull yellow animatronic on it. The animatronic was made of worn out fabric. Its head and jaw were separate, and the jawline consisted of hundreds of tiny teeth. Charlie backed away as booming laughter came from the animatronic. The animatronic turned to face Charlie, with its glowing red eyes. There was another jawline along its stomach, and the animatronic had razor sharp claws. It looked very much like Freddy—but much taller and more terrifying.

' _I think I know why it's called nightmare,_ ' she thought to herself. The animatronic boomed into even more laughter as it stepped off from its stage. Charlie turned around and ran back into the office, looking around for something—anything that she could use to defend herself. She turned to the desk, and there was a small space underneath it for her to hide under. Charlie crawled under the desk, surprised that she was able to fit. She peered out the desk, watching as the animatronic walked out of the room, bent over just slightly, still laughing.

' _That is the scariest thing I've ever seen...,_ ' Charlie commented to herself. She had to formulate a plan to escape from this place, as it was not safe here. Charlie felt the floor shake as the animatronic walked back towards the room in which it came from. Charlie sighed and crawled out of the desk.

Charlie scanned the room, looking for another way out, since the room with the 'nightmare' animatronic was out of the question. She turned to her left, seeing another door that was open. Charlie walked towards the door, trying to avoid making noise. She peaked out the door, seeing yet another hallway. She stepped inside, closing the door behind her.

The hallway was fairly empty, but there was an elevator inside at the very end of the hallway. The elevator seemed old—something that would be seen in the 1940s. She walked toward the elevator, which had no doors to it. She stepped inside, pressing the button '1'. After a few moments, the elevator would go up. Charlie felt a cold chill go down her spine.

The elevator reached the top floor. Charlie stepped outside, noticing the style of the building has altered. Instead of uniform white tiles covering the floor, the floor consisted of purple and white checkered tiles. There were a few shelves full of tools and other equipment off on the right side of the room, and there were some discarded posters hanging around. There were some foldable chairs propped up against the wall on the left. The chairs themselves had a yellow star on the backs of them.

There was an open door ahead of her. Looking outside, Charlie noticed four men standing watch. They were all in blue uniforms, wearing badges that were labeled "Hurricane P.D.", and they wore belts with certain tools attached. One tool that was most recognizable was a handgun. Charlie, realizing she might be spotted by them, ran off to the side of the room. Once she was out of the sight of the officers, she sat down against the wall. She scratched her head, realizing she will need to wait for the officers to leave, which could mean hours.

Charlie closed her eyes, hoping that doing so would somehow speed up time. Of course, this was just her lack of patience taking center stage. She felt only slightly more confident than before, but she still had lost some hope—especially considering how Elizabeth was able to take control of her body. Though, to be slightly more fair to her, Charlie only lost control when she went to sleep, and she wasn't sleep deprived as of now.

 _'Do i just need to stay awake?,'_ she pondered. Though it would make sense for that to be the case, something else seemed off—mainly that Charlie awakened two months after her death. Why two months? Why wasn't Elizabeth in control of her during that time period? These things just confused Charlie even more, but she felt there was hope.

One thing was certain. Charlie couldn't defeat Elizabeth on her own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the lack of updates. Anyways, if you have any suggestions or thoughts, please leave a comment.


	6. Chapter 6

John was sitting inside the waiting room, legs crossed. Many hours have passed since the group escaped from Elizabeth back at the apartment complex. During this time, he has occasionally visited to check up on Jessica. John turned to his left, where Carlton was seated, clearly in as much distress as him. He was shocked that an entire group could be defeated by a childish animatronic, but that had to be something else to him. Perhaps it was an attempt to make him and his friends feel a sense of dread or hopelessness?

John sighed, tired of this mess that has been created, and tired in general. He has been living off coffee for the past few days, only getting 20 minutes of sleep during the time him and Carlton hung around in Aunt Jen's house. All he wanted to do was to go home, rest, and rethink the entire situation in the morning.

Carlton raised an eyebrow, looking at John. "You look exhausted. Do you want to go home?"

John looked at Carlton. "I actually do, I just don't know how I'd do it."

"We'd drop you off. Simple as that."

"Oh, alright. guess I really am that tired."

Carlton closed his eyes for a moment. He too was tired, not as much as John, but tired nonetheless. He thought of how strange the past few years had been for him. It was like his life was transformed into a series of movies full of cliches.

"Do you feel that your life is full of cliches?"

John tilted his head. "I'm unsure of what you mean."

"Well, do things happen in your life that just seem too much of a cliche?," Carlton asked.

"Like how William and Charlie kept coming back to life?"

"Not just that, but like other things as well. For example, you getting a call from someone that sounds like Charlie, and then you finding Charlie's corpse."

"I already explained this to you. Elizabeth was pretending to be Charlie in that call, she planned for all this to happen."

"Wait, she planned for us to find Charlie's body? Why?"

"She probably hoped we would be distracted by her death. Enough so that she could strike at us easily."

"Oh, I understand now. She's pretty smart."

"Yeah, hopefully we can outsmart her."

Footsteps echoed around the room as Clay approached John and Carlton. He seemed to have appeared out of thin air. "So Jessica is doing alright. You can visit her now."

"That's great," John said. Carlton and John got up from their seats.

Clay walked into the main hallway. John and Carlton followed him. They occasionally glanced at the walls, seeing posters, paintings, and other objects that weren't of much interest. After passing by several rooms, Clay stopped by a door marked "14". Clay opened the door, and signalled the two to follow.

John and Carlton walked inside the room. A nurse was writing down notes on a desk nearby, and Jessica was laying down on a hospital bed. An IV was attached to her hand, and there was cloth tightly wrapped around her shoulder that was clawed.

"How is she?," John asked.

"She's still in a lot of pain, but she's doing much better than before."

John and Carlton sat down next to Jessica. John looked into Jessica's eyes, which seemed dilated and bloodshot. "You alright?," John asked worriedly.

Jessica shook her head. "It hurts so much," she complained.

"It's okay, we're here for you."

Jessica smiled. "Thanks... and thanks for saving me back there, I was terrified. I was terrified that Elizabeth was going to kill me."

"Well that's what friends do," Carlton said. "Friends look out for each other."

"Yeah. You should take this easy, dealing with trauma is not fun. I know how it feels," John said.

"We all know how it feels. We all lost Charlie," Carlton said.

"John," Jessica whispered just loud enough for John to hear it.

"Yeah?," he asked, looking at Jessica.

"Elizabeth felt so much like Charlie, she was terrified of something and I could tell."

"Well everyone has their fears," John said.

"I told her to go to sleep since she said she was exhausted. I then went into my room and called Clay about it. When I came back, she was awake, but she felt different."

"What do you mean different?"

"It felt like she was trying to imitate Charlie. Before that, her speech and actions seemed natural."

"Are you saying there's _another_ spirit inside Elizabeth's body?," Carlton asked.

"This just doesn't make sense," John said. "No, there isn't. This is all Elizabeth, and I refuse to believe anything else."

"John... what if Charlie is trying to possess Elizabeth, like what the kids did?," Jessica asked.

John shook his head. "No, Charlie's dead. I need a little more proof than what you're giving me."

Jessica rolled her head over, blinking several times. She seemed like she was on the brink of tearing up.

"Jessica? What's wrong?," Carlton asked.

"It's just that this is all overwhelming. I thought it would be nice to help a friend, and look where it brought me—to a hospital, in pain. My shoulder is all mangled up, and I almost died. I'm sorry about all of this, I'm probably a terrible friend."

"Don't say these things. Jessica, you're a great friend. You just need to be more careful, that's all," Carlton said.

Clay looked at his watch impatiently. It was 2:47 A.M.

"I miss Charlie too," Jessica said. "I wish I could've been there to say goodbye."

"We all do," John said.

"It's just not fair."

"Sometimes I feel that way too—," John began.

"—You don't understand," Jessica interrupted. "This all just feels like a horrible nightmare where everything gets worse by the second. It feels like someone's idea of hell, and I hate it," Jessica said as she began to tear up.

John threw his arms around Jessica in an effort to comfort her. Carlton would do the same. "Look, it's going to be okay. Soon, Elizabeth will be gone and we will be able to go back to our normal lives," John said.

"But what if it doesn't get better?"

John sighed. "Look, it will. We won't give up, right Carlton?"

Carlton nodded. "We never give up."

Jessica smiled. "Well thanks for everything."

John smiled. He closed his eyes for a moment, trying to recall something. He was curious about how Jessica and Elizabeth met this time around, it could be useful for the future. Perhaps for preventing future occurrences.

"Hey, I want to ask you a few things about Elizabeth," John said.

"Well, my memory is a bit fuzzy but I remember a lot."

"That's good. So how did you find out about Elizabeth? Well, 'Charlie' at the time."

Jessica closed her eyes. "Well I got a phone call from her, saying that she was in danger and that she needed help. She genuinely sounded afraid."

"She can always fake emotions more easily than we can. There are no poker-faces with her, she can cry if she wasn't upset, laugh if she wasn't amused. She is a master at pretending, I'm sure she could pretend to be afraid."

"I know, it just felt genuine to me. After I picked her up and brought her home, well not much happened. We talked for a while, but she was hiding something. She told me that she had a secret that she didn't want to tell. Elizabeth wouldn't do this, right?"

"Well that's weird. I don't know what to say though."

"What if Charlie is in there?"

"She isn't though. I would like to believe she is, but it is unlikely."

"Come on though! You know how Charlie died, right? She got impaled by a knife that also went through Elizabeth's stomach. What if Charlie's soul used that to possess Elizabeth? What if the knife was used as a sort of 'bridge' or something?"

"You're not making much sense. Souls are complicated, even I don't understand how they work. Still, even if it was possible, we can't rely on that. While I wish that was the case, it would also bring a lot of variables into the already complicated situation with Elizabeth."

"I'm sorry, I just wish Charlie was back."

Carlton looked over at John. "I think I understand you, John. You hope that Charlie is alive, we all do. But of course, if Charlie is alive, and inside Elizabeth, that would mean she could help with our fight. Think about it—we are waiting for Elizabeth to be taken over by a spirit so that we could stop her. It's pointless."

Jessica nodded. "Speaking of help, well do you think anyone else could help with us? I mean you three weren't even able to stop Elizabeth back there."

"I don't really know anyone who could be much of a help. Since the start, I've suggested bringing the police along. Clay has been on and off about that."

"Well we could use all the help we can get," Jessica said.

"We're screwed either way. I mean we are pretty much cornered by Elizabeth. Aunt Jen is dead, Charlie is dead—we lost the best help we could get," John said.

"That's what Elizabeth wants us to think. She wants us to think we're alone and surrounded so we'd easily give up. We can't do that, it's a disgrace to do such a thing. Charlie wouldn't want us to do that, would she?," Carlton asked.

"She would never want that." John stretched his arms out, he was exhausted. "I definitely need some rest."

Clay turned to John. "I'll drive you home if you'd like."

"I'd like that, thanks." John got up from his chair.

"You were... paying attention?," Carlton asked as he looked at Clay.

"There's always more to gain from listening than by speaking," Clay said.

"Huh, well said."

Clay smiled as he walked John out of the room. This left Carlton and Jessica alone in the room, well of course there was the nurse but that didn't matter much.

Carlton sat down next to Jessica. "I'm going to stay with you."

Jessica smiled. "That's nice.. uh, so what's going to happen now?"

"I wish I could tell you."

"You don't know?," Jessica asked.

"I don't have a crystal ball with me."

Jessica rolled her eyes. "Nobody does. Do you at least have any ideas on what to do?"

"We could try to bring along some old friends. You know, Marla, Jason, maybe a few others."

"Jason? He's thirteen, he won't be of much help. Besides, it'll make Elizabeth think we're desperate," Jessica complained.

"Jessica, listen to me. Elizabeth _knows_ we're desperate. There's no point in hiding it."

Jessica sighed. "Fine, but still it's a bad idea to bring Jason along. He's too young, and he'll probably get himself killed. I don't want that."

"I guess you win. So now what?"

"You know, John's idea of bringing the police along doesn't sound that bad. I don't see any reason not to do it," Jessica said.

"Me neither. Of course, what would the public think of this?"

"We shouldn't worry about that right now. After all, we could just move after this is over," Jessica said.

"So that leaves the million dollar question," Carlton began. "How will we take on Elizabeth?"

"Well I don't exactly know the answer to that. I would need to know a little more about how those animatronic dogs work, because otherwise all we are relying on is instinct."

"Let's just say they were actual dogs. Like, wild animals. What would we do?," Carlton asked.

"We'd put a bullet in them," Jessica answered.

"Except they're animatronics, they aren't easily incapacitated. A shotgun to the body of an animal would kill them, but to these animatronic dogs, they're only knocked out for a few seconds."

"We might just have to stick with that then. Remember, we're supposed to be taking out Elizabeth, not her servants," Jessica said.

"I know, but I can't figure out a way to get past them. Not without being seen, at least."

"We need to be careful. One wrong move and everything could fall apart," Jessica said.

"I know. It's just that things seem bleak. Maybe it's just that the group is so small."

"Carlton, you need to think outside the box."

"What do you mean?," Carlton asked.

"To secure ourselves against defeat lies in our own hands, but the opportunity of defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy himself," Jessica said.

"What is that from?"

"It's from Sun Tzu," Jessica said.

"So, we wait for an opportunity to strike Elizabeth down. Right, but it's still good to have a plan."

"Of course it is. Look, I want you to get in touch with Marla. She could really help with this."

"Yeah, we need all the help we can get after all," Carlton said. "How's the shoulder?"

"It hurts a lot, but I'm trying to ignore it."

"Alright. So in the morning, I'll try to get in touch with Marla. She might have some friends that could help too."


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Minor edit: Removed a gibberish line that was present.
> 
> Edit 2: Changed the dialogue between Jason, Marla, and John.

John stepped inside his apartment, eyes widening ever so slightly as warm air impacted his face. _'At least the A/C wasn't running all that time,'_ John thought to himself. He closed the door behind him, coughing to the small amount of dust present in the air. After putting his keys in his jacket pocket, he walked over to the television set. He turned on the air conditioner and the television, laying down on the couch. He was exhausted, and rightfully so. He has only been living off coffee for the past few days.

John looked at the television. It was just some news about a car accident a few miles away. He sighed, laying back on the couch, feeling cool air fill the room up like ice cubes cooling water. He had really wished the person calling him days ago was Charlie, but he very well knew Charlie was dead. He had witnessed her death himself, an attempt at suicide that failed, leaving Elizabeth merely dormant for two months. _'_ _Was she even dormant for those months, or was she planning something sinister?,'_ John questioned. He didn't know anything anymore, which was why he wanted to rest—he believed some rest could sort out his thoughts, but at the same time, he believed that resting could get rid of these thoughts.

John sighed. He switched the channel on the TV, and now it showed an advertisement. It was for Circus Baby's Pizza World, the same exact advertisement he saw two months ago. _'These things are still running?,_ ' he wondered. It was strange that a closed pizzaria would still be posting commercials. John rubbed his eyes. This whole situation was giving him a nasty headache, and he wanted out of it all.

He rolled over, covering his face with a pillow. He closed his eyes, stretching his legs out. He wanted to go to sleep, but seemed to be anticipating something, perhaps someone. It was most likely the part of him that wanted Charlie to be standing outside, knocking on the door. Of course, that was all impossible. John's head was full of messy thoughts, and he thought a shower might help organize them.

He got up from the couch, walking towards the hallway. He noted the lack of any real decorations, he never found any interest in putting them up anyway. He walked straight through the hallway, and at the end was the bathroom. He stepped inside, turning on the lights. He closed the door behind him. John looked into the mirror, seeing a young exhausted man. John began to undress himself, placing a towel on the floor next to the shower entrance. He placed his clothes inside the laundry basket inside the closet. He grabbed a washcloth and stepped inside the shower, closing the doors behind him. He turned on the water, and tested it to make sure it wasn't too hot or cold.

He was in the shower for twenty minutes. The last half of it he spent trying to figure out his current situation. Though he was in touch with Carlton and Jessica, he felt that it wasn't enough. Not enough to take on Elizabeth.

Once finished with his shower, he stepped outside, wrapping a towel around himself. After a good minute, he went into his room, putting on a pair of shorts and a tee shirt. After adjusting his clothes, he walked back inside the bathroom, hanging the towel back up. He looked into the mirror, seeing his hair soaking wet while his clothes didn't quite match him. John decided to ignore it as he turned off the light and walked away.

John stepped back into the living room, rubbing his eyes. He shivered as he walked towards the kitchen. He was starving, and though he kind of wanted to have a fancy dinner, he knew that he would be going right to sleep afterward. He decided to go for making a sandwich. He opened the fridge and got out a slice of bread. Getting a knife from the drawer, he cut the bread in half. He took a few thin slices of ham and put them between the bread slices. He closed the refrigerator door as he walked over to the couch, taking a bite out of the sandwich.

John sat down on the couch. He looked up at the ceiling—at the spinning fan. He stared at the fan for a while, occasionally taking bites from his sandwich. He didn't know what to do. On one hand, he wanted to get some rest. On the other hand, he wanted to stay awake and figure out a plan to get rid of Elizabeth.

John took one last bite from sandwich, finishing it. He didn't get up afterward, instead he just lied back down on the couch. He couldn't muster the energy needed to go to his room, and even so, he didn't want to. This was put to an end quickly though, as knocking echoed from the front door. He sighed and got up from the couch, walking over to the door and opening it. Marla and Jason were standing outside. "Hey John."

The two had big smiles over their faces, yet the smiles seemed too large for them. John raised an eyebrow at this, but didn't mention anything about it. "Hey Marla, hey Jason. What's going on?," he asked, fatigue evident in his voice.

"We just thought we'd stop by. We heard about what happened with Elizabeth, and we felt bad," Marla said, slightly frowning.

"Oh, well thank you for coming—wait a minute," John began. "Who told you about Elizabeth?"

Jason looked up at Marla. "Can you talk about—"

"—Shhhh...," Marla interrupted, putting a finger over her lips, signaling Jason to be quiet. She then turned to John, sighing silently. "Carlton called me," she said.

"What was that about?"

"Oh, it's just him being himself. Don't worry about it."

"And of course, you being yourself to him." John tilted his head. "Wait, _Carlton_ called you? If anyone would tell you about this, it would be either me or Clay, but no, Carlton," John said with suspicion in his tone.

"Why are you worried about who told me that Elizabeth is back? It's the same message regardless of who sends it," she said.

John rolled his eyes, sighing. "I guess you're right. Come in." John turned around, stepping inside his apartment. Marla and Jason followed him. He closed the door behind him. "Pardon the dust, it's just that I've been gone for a few days with no air running," he said. "I have the air running right now, it should get much cooler."

Marla and Jason nodded. John sat down on the couch, resting his head against an arm. Marla sat down next to him. "Are you alright? You don't look too well," she asked.

"I'm just exhausted," he said, stretching his arms and legs out. "No sleep for the past few days. I've been living off coffee"

"I've had my fair share of sleepless nights," Marla said. "Well how are you doing besides that?"

"Not doing very well, considering that Charlie is dead. The truth is, I knew she was dead months ago, but I didn't want to tell anyone because... well I have my reasons," John said.

"I think I understand. We all need to get over her death, especially since we're fighting Elizabeth again."

"I know, it's just heartbreaking. She was my best friend."

"Charlie felt the same way when Michael died," Marla said. "I'm really sorry about her."

Jason looked at the television, which was playing some sort of animated cartoon. It was unfamiliar to John.

"Well I mean I suppose we all felt a part of ourselves go away when she died. She was a great friend to us, she saved our lives numerous times, only for her to kill herself with a robotic skeleton hoping it would impale Elizabeth."

"That doesn't sound like the Charlie I knew," Marla said. "She wouldn't kill herself, even if it was the only option."

"Well maybe it wasn't just about getting rid of Elizabeth. What if Charlie _wanted_ to die?," John asked.

Marla closed her eyes for a moment. She tried to go through every possible scenario in which Charlie would want to kill herself, and she couldn't find any. "I don't see how she would want to."

"Well what if she discovered something—something that would completely destroy her will to live?"

"Charlie isn't like that though. If she found out her father was a murderer, so what? Henry's dead," Marla protested.

"Hey... uh can I add something?," Jason asked shyly.

"Sorry but I'm a little—," Marla began to speak but was cut off.

"—Sure, go right ahead," John interrupted.

Marla sighed. "I asked you a question."

"Do you want me to answer it, and then Jason goes?"

"Isn't that how it's supposed to work?," Marla asked.

"Probably, but it's been a long time since I checked."

"Well the question escaped my head. Could you repeat it?," John asked.

"Fine," Marla clenched her fist just a little, then relaxed it. "I said that if Charlie found out her father was a murderer, she wouldn't kill herself. That's not Charlie."

"Did I ever say her father was a murderer?," John asked.

"No, but I'm saying that if he was a murderer, Charlie wouldn't kill herself because of it."

"I don't get what you're trying to say. You're trying to use an analogy to answer my questions, how about you just give me a straight answer?"

Marla sighed again. "Charlie wouldn't kill herself after discovering something terrible about her past, her friends, or her family. Charlie is better than that."

"What if she found out that Sammy was dead? Or what if she found out that he never existed in the first place?"

Marla tilted her head, puzzled. "What do you mean, _Sammy never existed in the first place_?"

"I'm starting to suspect that Sammy was never real."

"But why? There are all sorts of police reports about it, I'm sure you read them yourself."

"That's not my point though. My point is—what if Charlie found out that Sammy never was real?"

"But those are her real memories. There are police reports, she remembers Sammy's kidnapping in clear detail too!," Marla protested.

"Don't you think it's too clear of a detail though?"

"How about this? Charlie witnessed her brother get kidnapped right before her eyes. She remembers the Spring Bonnie animatronic take him away—people tend to remember traumatic memories."

"She was three years old! At that young of an age, a memory wouldn't be as clear of a detail as it was for Charlie."

"So what are you saying? That someone uploaded a memory into Charlie's mind? How is that even possible?," Marla asked.

"Marla, there is something you don't understand."

"What is it?"

"Right before Charlie got trapped inside that Twisted Freddy animatronic, she got into a confrontation with William Afton."

Marla's eyes widened. "She told you about that?"

"Right before me and Charlie went to her aunt's house, we talked in the car for a moment. Back at that underground pizzeria, when Charlie asked Afton why he took Sammy, he told her that he didn't take Sammy, he took her."

"William Afton took Charlie? But there are police records of Sammy being kidnapped. Can't you just check Charlie's family or something?," Marla asked.

"You're missing the point though. William Afton took Charlie instead of Sammy, which brings up a whole load of questions."

"If Afton didn't take Sammy, then who did?," Marla asked.

"I don't know, hell I'm not even sure if Sammy even existed."

"But Charlie had vivid memories of Sammy!"

"Don't you think those memories are too vivid? There was a memory of her at a very young age, with her father making a jumping animatronic. A memory that is seemingly out of the blue, but in so much detail. Don't you think it is a little strange?," John asked.

Marla looked down. "John, I don't know what happened to you. You're nitpicking every strange detail about Charlie, and it's scaring me."

"William Afton said that he took Charlie. If that's the case, then what did he do with her?"

"I don't know, but why would that matter? William Afton lied so many times to us, why would we trust him now?," Marla asked.

"My gut tells me that this time, he was telling the truth."

Jason stood up, looking at the two. "Can I talk now?," he asked.

"Yeah, go right ahead," John said.

"You know how Charlie never goes to the hospital or doctor, even for things that are bad?," Jason asked.

Marla glanced at Jason, her eyes widening as she goes back in time, failing to recall any moment where Charlie went to a hospital or doctor's office. Marla then turned John.

John's eyes were as wide as Marla's. "She never has in her entire life."

"Why wouldn't she though? I mean, she had some really bad injuries."

"It was her aunt who told her not to go to hospitals, and I think her father too."

"Look, I think we're just not getting anywhere with this talk about the things wrong with Charlie. She was a great friend, that's all. I'm really tired of this."

Jason nodded in agreement.

"Well in that case, what happened when you two were away?," he asked. "You two have definitely changed."

"Not much happened. I gave up looking for Charlie pretty early on. I just had the feeling she was dead," Marla said.

"And what about Jason?," John asked.

"Well we met up with a little girl named Anna, well back at that diner," Jason answered.

"Anna?," John asked.

Marla turned back to John. "She's actually pretty smart for her age. She knows how robots work, she knows how to code."

John rubbed against his eye. "So how have things been for you?," he asked.

"Quite well actually. Jason's about to go into high school, so that's going to be cool. As for me, it's really boring."

John stretched his arms out. "So when did you meet this Anna?"

"A week ago," Marla answered.

"Oh, well maybe I can meet her when I get the chance."

"I'm sure you'll get to meet her," Marla said.

"You said she knows about robotics and code?," John asked, a light-bulb seemingly going off in his head. It was entirely possible that Anna could be a great help.

"She does, quite a bit actually. Her father taught her a lot about these things."

"You know, I'm asking because, well Elizabeth is an animatronic. Maybe Anna could be helpful to us in defeating her."

"Well I'll tell her."

John smiled. "That's good, it's always nice to have some help."

"But it won't work. I mean, it was a good idea to try it but it won't work."

John frowned. "What do you mean? She knows about robotics, she knows about coding. She could be a big help to us."

"Tell a cruise ship captain to pilot an aircraft carrier," Marla said.

John paused, tilting his head. "Huh?"

"She knows how to work with robots, damn it. She doesn't know how to work with possessed and murderous animatronics."

"She can still be helpful. Let's just say it's a robot programmed to kill people, it would be right up her alley."

Marla sighed. "She knows how to _make_ robots, not how to _destroy_ robots. She won't be as helpful as you think she will be, I'm sorry."

"Well can we at least meet with her?"

"I'll have to check with her, but most likely in a couple of days."

"Well thanks. I probably just seem really nosy right now, but we are in serious danger. Elizabeth has a small army of animatronic dogs, or wolves, whatever you want to call them."

"Dogs, like humanoid dogs?"

"No, wild dogs, with razor sharp teeth and claws, they stand on four legs. They're terrifying, and I saw four of them at Jessica's apartment."

"Oh my... that must be terrifying. I don't see how Anna could be helpful, at that point you're just being chased by a group of wild dogs."

"Shotguns can knock those things out for a few seconds, but afterwards they just come back."

"Well, at least you have _something_ that can take care of them, albeit temporary. It might just be enough to hold them off."

"No, we need to destroy those things and make Elizabeth feel like she's alone."

"Alright, well how would we do that? There's no way to destroy them."

"Well, there might be. Lure them into a room, set the room ablaze, and watch them melt."

Marla shook her head. "That doesn't sound productive."

"It's the best I have. I wish I could get my friends but they're over at the hospital with Jessica."

"How badly did Jessica get hurt?"

"Her shoulder got badly clawed. Last time I checked, her entire arm was covered with blood."

Marla turned away, squeezing her eyes shut. "I can't even imagine what she went through, that's terrible."

"I know, we just need to stay strong, and we need to stay together."

"Yeah, probably. I just feel like I can't do much to help."

"Why though? Elizabeth wants all of us dead!"

"She probably doesn't even know about me. Besides, she has more concerning matters than me."

"That's what you say?"

"I'm sorry John. I can't help you right now. Jason has school to deal with, I have some private business to attend."

"Marla, what's going on?"

"I care about you, but I can't help you right now. I'm going to talk to Anna about Elizabeth, she might be able to help you."

"Marla, what happened to you wanting to help your friends?"

"Charlie's gone. There's nobody really worth fighting for anymore."

John sighed. Jason looked over at John. "She's been like this for a while, even before Charlie died. All this talk about purposelessness."

Marla looked at John again. "I'm going to leave. There's not much to do, besides it's dark out and it's late. I just wanted to check up on you to see how you're doing, and you're doing alright."

"Alright, go then. I need some sleep anyways. Just make sure to talk to Anna."

"I'll make sure to," Marla said. Marla turned and began to walk towards the door with Jason. Once at the door, Marla turned around to face John. John waved, and Marla waved back. She walked out the door with Jason, closing the door behind them.

John scratched his head, very distressed. There were many bad events that have happened over the past few days. He recalled Jessica mentioning how Elizabeth seemed 'more like Charlie' before she went to sleep, and then it seemed like Elizabeth snapped. John initially thought that Elizabeth had been manipulative, but John began to think more of it. Perhaps it was possible that Charlie's soul was trying to take control of Elizabeth?

 _'No... that's ridiculous. Charlie's gone,'_ John convinced himself. He didn't want to fall for any traps, and it was more than likely that Elizabeth was trying to make him think this. John was just exhausted, he had been living only with coffee. It was time for him to get some rest. He needed to organize his thoughts, and a good sleep would do just that.

Outside, Marla and Jason walked along the sidewalk. They seemed careless in their efforts, only occasionally looking up. There were no words exchanged between the two. The two approached the woods, where they were promised to see someone. Looking forward, they saw a hooded young girl, yet her appearance seemed to distort itself every few seconds. The two tried to ignore it.

The girl removed her hood, turning around to face the two. "Marla, Jason. What does he know?"

"He seems to be suspicious about Sammy existing. He also pointed out the vividness of Charlie's memories."

"Very good. He is right where I want him to be."

"He is suspicious of Charlie herself—my best friend! How do you think that is good?"

"Don't ask too many questions."

"I'm sorry," Marla said.

"Does John trust my abilities?"

"I voiced some doubt about how you may not be of much help, just to make it that much more believable to him. But yes, he believes you can help with the fight against Elizabeth," Marla said.

"Very good. And regarding Charlie's death, how did you explain your knowledge of it?"

"I told him that Carlton told me."

The girl looked down. "This is a very dangerous game you're playing. If he were to tell Carlton, it would be over."

"I don't think he would tell him."

"And what about his feelings on the matter of fight with Elizabeth?"

"He doesn't know what to do. His only hunch is that being together with friends during the fight is success."

"His weakness will be his undoing." The girl's green eyes and orange hair seemed to gleam in the darkness. "He needs to be guided."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading this. Please leave a review/comment so I know how you feel about how the story is going so far. If you have any suggestions or comments, please leave them in the comments.


	8. Chapter 8

Charlie was sitting back against the wall of the elevator room. It had been three hours since she came up from this same elevator. Charlie poked her head out the door. She hoped the officers would have left by now, but they have not. The four officers were still walking around. _'What are they even doing here?,'_ Charlie wondered.

She closed the door to the elevator room, being careful to not alert the officers. She decided that she was going to go back down to the facility, since it would most likely be a long time before the officers leave. Charlie turned around and walked into the elevator carriage. She pressed the 'Floor -1' button, and a faint beep sound echoed from a speaker as the button lit up for a moment. Seconds later, the elevator carriage descended.

The elevator stopped with a loud thump. Before stepping out of the carriage, Charlie took the time to study the carriage itself. The walls were made gray and white vertical stripes. The floor was made of steel grates, and many wires hung from the ceiling. There were many small ceiling lights that seeped to pepper the perimeter of the carriage, and there was a large spinning fan on the ceiling. There was a keypad off to the side, but she did not understand what it was for, the buttons were unmarked.

Charlie decided to turn into her 'human' form, since there was nothing better to do. She stepped out of the elevator carriage. There was a small gap between the carriage and the room it led to. Charlie carefully walked over the gap, making sure to not fall in the gap. Charlie was greeted with yellow and black tape covering what seemed to be a small vent ahead of her. Looking to her right, there were crates and boxes scattered all around, and even more loose wires. The walls were blue and purple vertical stripes, the same material as the inside of the elevator carriage. Charlie turned to her left, seeing the same pattern—boxes and crates everywhere. There were white lights that dotted the walls, but left a slight yellow hue to the ceiling.

Charlie decided to walk left. The room around the elevator was circular. She walked half way around the room, and a small detail caught her eye. Scratch that, a large detail—a door. Charlie walked towards the door, which itself was not marked. She decided to take her chances and open the door.

Almost immediately, she was hit by hot air. Looking out, she was standing before a long hallway. The hallway had deep blue painted walls and a blue ceiling, and gray brick floor. The right side of the hallway closest to Charlie had a table standing—one in a very similar style to those in Freddy Fazbear's pizza, with a white tablecloth, and rainbow sprinkles over it. There were chairs propped atop of the table, and there was a brown box standing on the far side of it.

Charlie walked past the table. She noticed another crate hidden behind the table. She didn't bother checking out the crate, and instead continued walking down the hallway. A closed door stood a few meters away from the table, on the right side of the hallway. Charlie walked towards the door, which this time was marked with the words 'Testing Facility'. Charlie shivered upon reading this. _'Testing facility? Testing for what_ _—animatronics?,'_ she thought.

She scratched her head. _'I guess I have to go in.'_ Charlie opened the door, and all she found was darkness. The room wasn't lit, and she couldn't see inside. Charlie sighed, turning around and walking out of the room. She decided to look for something that could provide light—likely a flashlight. She walked over to one of of the crates, and began opening them one by one.

Eventually, she would find a small flashlight. She would pick up the blue painted flashlight, and she turned it on and off. It worked fine. Charlie turned back and walked inside the 'Testing Facility' room. She turned on her flashlight, revealing a flight of stairs that went down. _'Wonderful...'_

Charlie went down the dark stairwell. It was cold, and she would hear the occasional ticking of an old grandfather clock, as well as some gusts of wind. She could only assume the clock was located in this 'testing facility', whatever it was. Charlie eventually reached the bottom, and a long hallway was before her. She shined the flashlight directly ahead of her and began walking down it.

Charlie entered what appeared to be a sort of closet room. There were four closets total, two on either side of the room. There was also a window that seemed to face outside, and the moon was visible in the night sky. _'Isn't it daytime?'_

Charlie turned around, seeing an exit to the room. Charlie walked towards the exit with her flashlight, seeing yet another room. She grunted, walking in the room. Inside, she seemed to be at a sort of crossroads. She could either go straight, or go right. Charlie looked forward, seeing an old grandfather clock. The environment seemed to represent a house, but what was unusual was that she was underground, inside a pizzeria. The walls had blue panels at the bottom, and orange wallpaper at the top. She walked forward towards the clock, then taking a sharp left. There was a hallway which seemed to lead to another room at the end of the hallway. _'Why is there a house down here? And why is it called "Testing Facility"?'_

Charlie shivered. She walked forwards towards the room on the left of her. As she entered with her flashlight, the immediate change in atmosphere surprised her. The walls were white, and the carpet was blue. There were a few loose toys hanging around, including a purple robot and telephone. She looked towards the bed. There was a nightstand to the side with a lamp and a container of pills. Footsteps echoed from nearby.

Charlie's blood froze as she realized she wasn't alone. She turned around and looked at the door way, and a seven year-old girl was looking directly at Charlie. She was hooded, and had green eyes and orange hair. She waved at her. "Hello."

Charlie backed away. "Who are you?"

"Well, you're not supposed to be here. I'm here to get you out."

Charlie tilted her head. "Okay?"

The little girl turned around and walked toward the end of the hallway, opposite of the way Charlie came in. "Well come on!"

 _'She's quite bossy,'_ she thought. Charlie followed the little girl to the end of the hallway. The little girl turned to the right and exited the house. The little girl turned to a closet on the left and opened the door, and before them was a flight of stairs that went up. "That's where we are going?"

"The police don't know about this exit, so we can get past them."

Charlie nodded and followed the little girl up the flight of stairs. The stairway seemed to never end, even though she very well saw the light of day at the top. Eventually she would reach the top, and she would help the little girl up. "Easy does it, you don't want to fall back down there."

"Thanks," the little girl said. "By the way, I'm Anna." The little girl's eyes seemed to glint up in the darkness, giving Charlie both a chilling and comforting feeling, something she had never seen before. Anna smiled.

Charlie smiled nervously. "Well, nice to meet you Anna. I'm Charlie."

Anna nodded. "Well I suppose you want to go home, so I'll leave you alone here," the little girl said. The tone of her voice suggested that she was anticipating a specific answer. Charlie brushed this aside.

"Well, I don't really have a home, that's the thing..."

"Oh," the little girl said, looking down. "Well that's a shame," Anna said.

Charlie nodded. "It was destroyed a while ago. Well, thanks for getting me out of the pizzeria anyway."

"You're welcome," the little girl said, smiling. Her green eyes seemed to light up just faintly, but Charlie didn't take much note of it.

Charlie sighed. She walked over to the side of the building, and sat down against the wall. "Well I don't know what to do. On one hand, I want to talk to my friends and tell them what has been going on," she said. "On the other hand, I'm afraid that my friends wouldn't believe me, and would think that I'm their enemy... and I don't want that."

Anna tilted her head. "Well, you're going to have to elaborate a little if I'm gonna help you."

"Well the thing is I can't tell you, it's too insane to be believed."

"Come on, you have to tell me!," Anna said.

"I can't tell you, I'm sorry," Charlie said. "Do you know where the hospital is?"

"75 north, 2260 west," Anna said. "Well, in relation to Salt Lake City."

Charlie looked at Anna with a suspicious look. "I know how addresses work, but how do you, a _seven year old girl_ know how they work?"

"I've been to school before, duh."

Charlie sighed, dumbfounded. "Could you repeat the address for me?"

"75 north, 2260 west," Anna repeated.

"Thanks, uhm... it feels kind of far, do you know a quicker way to get there without a car?," Charlie asked.

"Well I could call a friend to drive you there, do you want that?," Anna asked.

"Yeah, that actually works great, how do you know all these things though?"

"I'm just smart. My father made robots and stuff."

"Well that's neat."

"I don't know if you've seen these, they're fairly new."

"Hm?," Charlie asked.

Anna pulled out a small cell phone from her purse, one with a green LCD on it that displayed the time. "They're also quite expensive, but my father had the money for it."

"Oh, that's cool," Charlie said. "I've seen them on TV but I never actually used one."

"Do you want me to show you?"

Charlie smiled. "Sure, I'd like that."

Anna showed Charlie her cell phone. It was a Nokia 8110, released a few years ago. "Basically you use it like any other phone, you dial in a number and press talk." Anna then dialed in her friend's number, and called. Charlie watched as Anna put the phone to her ear and spoke into it. "Hey Marla, I have a friend that needs to be picked up. Could you help with that?"

"Yeah, sure. Anything for you I can do," a faint voice came from the phone.

Charlie's eyes widened. _'Marla?'_

"We're at that pizzeria that got closed down a few months ago, she asked for help."

"I should be there in around thirty minutes," Marla said on the other side,

Charlie closed her eyes. _'Marla was one of my friends, I sure hope she wasn't told of my death...'_

"Alright, thank you. I'll see you in a bit, goodbye," Anna said, hanging up the phone.

"Anna...," Charlie began.

"Yeah?," Anna asked, giving Charlie a worrisome look.

"Marla?," she asked nervously.

"Oh she's just a friend of mine," she said. "Do you know her?"

"Yeah..."

"So what's wrong?"

"Nothing," Charlie said as she turned around, looking at the back of the pizzeria. "You really don't understand what it's like."

"I don't, and I really want to, Charlie!"

"How would you feel if all your friends found out you were dead?"

"And you... came back to life?"

"You can say that."

"So what's the big deal? They'll be happy to see you."

"You don't understand. Someone pretended to be me a while ago, that person killed my aunt. They wouldn't trust me."

"Well, just prove to them that you're you. That's all."

"Well, thanks," Charlie said. "But that won't work."

"Why wouldn't it?"

Charlie stretched her legs out. "Because there is no way to prove it unfortunately."

"Oh, well could you explain why that is?"

Charlie sighed. "I don't want to tell you... because you might not take me seriously."

"Come on, Charlie!," the little girl said. "I'll take you seriously, I mean I know what happened at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza all those years ago."

Charlie paused and her eyes widened. "You... do?"

"Yeah. About the kids getting killed and being stuffed into those animatronics, about the animatronics coming back to life at night to haunt the pizzeria," she said. "I know about everything, so I'll take you seriously."

Charlie sighed in relief. "Well, alright..."

"So?"

"It's just that I don't want to tell you, I mean it would be like me telling you that I'm a vampire..."

"Well, if you were a vampire... that would _suck,_ " Anna said.

Charlie couldn't help but smile at the horrible pun that Anna made. "Are you serious right now?"

"Sorry, sorry."

Charlie scratched her head. "So you're one of those people that like puns?"

"I do it occasionally."

"Alright, whatever. As I said, me telling you the truth would pretty much be like me telling you that I'm a vampire," Charlie said.

"Well I would certainly be uncomfortable and possibly frightened by you."

"Exactly! So you understand."

"But what you're hiding could be crucial information," Anna said.

"Look, Anna. While I think we're getting along nicely, I don't exactly trust you. I'm not ready to spill away my identity to a seven year old I met in a pizzeria," Charlie said.

Anna frowned. "Hurtful!"

"Look, I'm sorry if I hurt you there. I really don't trust people I've met less than twenty five minutes ago. Most people don't."

"Well, that's a fair point."

"I've noticed something about you though... you seem very smart for your age. The way you talk sounds more like the words of an adult than of someone your age."

The little girl smiled. "Well, thanks!"

"You're far from an adult though. I mean, you're what—seven? I mean it's like instinct to you, isn't it?"

"The way I talk? Sure thing."

"It is strange, I'll give you that," Charlie said. She really was suspicious of Anna. The way she talked seemed more like that of an adult than a child her age. The way her eyes seemed to "glow" also seemed strange, as if Anna wasn't even human. _'She got me out of here, I just hope she's on my side and not Elizabeth's.'_

Charlie sat back down. She impatiently waited for Marla to arrive. _'Only a few more minutes...'_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading. By the way, if you haven't noticed, I've updated Chapter 7. The changes include making dialogue more realistic between Jason, Marla, and John. As always, if you want to share your thoughts, please leave them down below in the comments. It would be nice to know what you all think of this, and where you want the story to go because this is really my first major work.


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